Revs Byke

A win is a win is a win is a win. At the end of the day thats all that matters. But the way the Revs got to that point in this one is about as Revs as you can think of. 

Brad Friedel  rolled out the same roster as last week, with Juan Agudelo starting along the right wing and Luis Caicedo in central midfield with Scott Caldwell on the bench. 

The nature of the two teams in question, Our Beloved Revs and Sporting Kansas City, meant the game would be very attacking-heavy and more open than we've seen in the past few games. With two aggressive squads, there would be a lot of space opening up, and taking advantage of the space would be key. 

As good as Diego has been this season in the #10 role, the key to this game was Penilla. Creative with blazing speed on the wing against a team that likes to push upfield meant he could get some great looks on a counter attack with teammates making runs through the box. He's the definition of instant offense. I call him Top Ramen cause he'll satisfy that hunger real quick. 

Penilla was also part of what is starting to become a worrisome aspect of the Revs game. The passing looked a little sloppy tonight. We gave up possession more than a few times by just passing it to SKC, and Penilla did it both in this game and in others within the attacking third of the field. I think away from home that kind of stuff will kill this side. You need to take car of the ball to have success. 

It was a relatively even game in terms of possession though. Each team held for long stretches a few times and the balls that New England would pass away, they would end up winning back more often than not. That Core 4 of Caicedo and Zahibo in front of Dielna and Anibaba is looking solid at this point, and then you obviously have a sure handed keeper in Matt Turner. Turner was forced into action like 8 seconds in and had to show his skill a few other times, but for the most part his teammates were making life pretty easy. Turner has apparently requested access to the Ojeleye Factory when he showed off some CombatMuscles though...

DEFENSE! #NERevs @2Fast2Farrell clears the ball off the line in the 63rd minute pic.twitter.com/lLzZxr1IdQ

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 29, 2018

A real nice goal line clearance from Big Burly Boy Farrell and then Turner fighting for the ball. Gritty!

As the game wore on you could see the Revs dedication to conditioning start to pay off. KC was looking like they were falling behind the rapid pace of play at times int he second half as the Revs ran them, and ran them, and ran them some more. 

"But what about the score? You said they won! Wheres the goal?"

Great question! I was waiting to get to this. Teal Bunbury with perhaps a goal that is a microcosm for both himself and the Revs organization as a whole.

Ok, so. Here's a thing that happened. Bunbury reacts to the flag and all the players basically stop after the flag is up. Bunbury goes ahead and finishes. Video review shows the ball comes off of Espinoza and so no offside. Good goal. 1-0 New England. pic.twitter.com/jkrGdc7EfE

— Total MLS (@TotalMLS) April 29, 2018

Diego plays him a pass, the flag goes up since he's clearly offside and he puts it home out of frustration apparently. Well, VAR giveth and VAR taketh away, and in that moment it was feeling more giving than Santa Claus. Replay showed that the ball was actually last contacted by Espinoza, making Teal onside and the goal a good one. How in the world is that the goal that did in KC? How is that a goal that was scored by the Revs and not against them? Are we still on the planet Earth? Does God exist? What is the meaning of life? All of these will remain eternal questions lost to the universe.  We should also fully expect VAR to screw us at least 3 times the rest of the season for this one. 

KC came into this matchup unbeaten since week 1, and it was the Revs to end their streak. Incredible. 

Other notes:

-Kelyn Rowe misses a third straight week with that leg injury, though he was practicing a bit this week and apparently smiled at Paul Mariner in Gillette Stadium, so cause for concern may not be warranted just yet. I'd say if he misses next week as well then we can start thinking about the panic button. But for now, we're fine. Everything's fine. We're fine.

-On two separate occasions, Claude Dielna the central defender was trying to show off his skills. It looked like a 12 year old spamming an XBOX controller. Step over, step over, feint, step over, sombrero attempt, it gets kicked out of bounds. The guy is too much. 

Man of the Match

Look when you're hot you're hot. Thats 4 goals in 5 games now for the Man Between Blue And Green. It's been a case of "Right Place, Right Time" for him. Whether he meant to do it or not, he put that ball in the back of net for the lone goal of the game. His work rate in the press can also not go unnoticed. He was making life difficult for SKC as they attempted to build up their offense. Good in ya Boonbury. 

I spent more time than I care to admit trying to think of a song for Teal and gave up and put this song which is good. 

Up in Montreal next week for a 1 pm kick. I hope I'm awake by then. Clue the music!

REVS 1-0 SKC