Saturday, June 2, 2018

Revs Cancel The Bulls Parade



We back folks,,,

New York Red Bulls visiting the Fortress, with just 3 points elevating them above the Revs in the standings, but with 2 games in hand at this point.

With the Tierney news I expected Gabriel Somi to take up the left back spot, but the Revs tweeted out a fairly different lineup than I expected. Turner in net as usual, and a backline of Dielna-Delamea-Anibaba-Farrell. And then they went attacker heavy, with Nemeth and Bunbury both starting, Kelyn Rowe back in the XI, Diego in the middle and Penilla and Caicedo keeping their spots. I assumed that since Nemeth was starting he would be up top, but he was playing on the right wing from the jump, which was a bit odd to me. Teal has the experience out wide but Brad clearly trusts his work rate on the high press.

The key for the Revs was shutting down Bradley Wright-Phillips. And in true Revs fashion, BWP scored 7 minutes into the game.

A pure man's goal. BWP just rises and puts pace on the header from pretty far out to beat Turner. He's just so good and has been for a long time now. The Revs ddi a decent job keeping him quiet the rest of the game and he didn't have many true scoring chances, his best coming off a self volley towards the end of the match and even that was from outside the box at a tough angle and with bodies around him.

And so the question was, "Can the Revs respond?" Buddy,, did they ever.


What a goddamn PISS MISSILE just before the half. What an answer! Nemeth flicks it to a streaking Diego inside the box and the new dad with a heater off the right foot to the back of the net.

Now, leading up to Diegos first goal as a father, as well as afterwards, the Revs were holding the ball pretty deep into Red Bull territory. Nemeth was being given a lot of space to operate on the right wing and had a few runs that ended in him being brought down in the box but no penalties called. On the other side, Penilla was clearly a focal point of the attack going at the New York left side. He was being given little room to work with but the Revs found some success in getting him some room to work with by switching the field of play and putting long balls over the defense and onto his foot. He's obviously dangerous with the ball but that last sequence just wasn't there most of the time.

I like to call the Revs attack "The Edge" because its a lot of buildup and promising teasing only to be left with no finish.

And guess what? With The Edge comes a lot of emotion when you finally put one home.


It all starts with Luis Caicedo. The DM pushes up the field and wins the ball back on the end line. He whips it back towards the field of play and it falls to Penilla. Penilla, with the defense now scrambling to get back into position, uses his speed to push past his marker and uses he separation to put a nice low cross in front of the net for Teal to finish off. That goal was like an Italian chef kissing his fingers.


The scoreline would hold as the Revs weathered a late comeback attempt to take all 3 points at home.

I thought Dielna was solid at LB. His defense was never really the question for me, it was the attacking. His crossing was not very good, which was a bit odd given his relative competence in his debut as a free kick and corner kick taker tonight. He nearly put a free kick home from a difficult angle on the near side of the goal, but the power shot was pushed away by Ryan Meara. I do expect Somi to assume regular LB duties but Dielna was more than serviceable in that position.

I also thought Nemo had a nice game. He prefers to play in a more central attacking role, but his work on the right wing was very good and his take ons were instrumental in getting looks at goal and set pieces all night.

And for a final game thought: Aurelien Collin has a highly punchable face.



Man of the Match

So important to the attack today and had the game-winning assist.


The lads go on the road for a little Manifest Destiny campaign. At Louisville for the US Open Cup on Tuesday, then at Chicago in a week, and then at at San Jose 4 days after that. Put on your walking shoes and pack your cures for cholera, we're heading West.

REVS 2-1 Red Bulls. Cue the music!





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