HARRISON, N.J. –Jermaine Jonesscored the first goal of his MLS postseason career as the New England Revolution earned a 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship at Red Bull Arena. Jones and Teal Bunbury each finished with a goal and an assist as the Revolution claimed their third straight postseason win to take a one-goal advantage into the second leg of the series at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, November 29.
New England took the lead in the 17th minute when Bunbury received a pass from Jones out wide, cut inside on to his left foot and curled a shot inside the far post, past Luis Robles to give the Revs a 1-0 advantage. The goal was Bunbury’s second in as many games while Jones, who was credited with the lone assist on the tally, now has two assists in the playoffs.
The lead would last just 10 minutes before the Red Bulls would equalize. The leading scorer in the MLS regular season and the postseason, Wright-Phillips headed into an empty net after Peguy Luyindula’s initial shot was saved by Bobby Shuttleworth, only to then see his second attempt hit the crossbar before falling to Wright-Phillips, who nodded it in.
The Red Bulls threatened early in the second half, with both Lloyd Sam and Bradley Wright-Phillips going close. The match also became a more physical affair as the second half went on with referee Allen Chapman issuing 10 yellow cards, including six after the halftime break.
With the game looking like it was headed for a 1-1 draw, the Revolution eventually broke the deadlock in the 85th minute through Jermaine Jones. MLS MVP finalist Lee Nguyen slipped Bunbury in on the right side of the penalty area and Bunbury hit a low, hard cross across the face of goal for Jones who tapped the ball into the net for the game-winning goal and the Revs’ first-ever win at Red Bull Arena.
New England will host the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship on Saturday, November 29 at Gillette Stadium. The game will be televised nationally by NBC Sports Network while 98.5 The Sports Hub (English) and WMVX 1570 AM (Portuguese) will have the call on the radio. Kickoff for that game is set for 3 p.m. ET.
Santander Man of the Match
- TEAL BUNBURY – Scored the Revs' first goal in the 17th minute and assisted on Jermaine Jones' 85th minute game-winning goal.
Next Game
The Revolution will return home for the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship on Saturday, November 29 at Gillette Stadium. That game will kick off at 3 p.m. ET and can be seen live nationally on the NBC Sports Network. Locally, 98.5 The Sports Hub (English) and WMVX 1570 AM (Portuguese) will have the call on the radio.
New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls
November 23, 2014 – Red Bull Arena (Harrison, N.J.)
Eastern Conference Championship – First Leg
New England Revolution 2, New York Red Bulls 1
Scoring Summary:
NE – Teal Bunbury 2 (Jermaine Jones 2) 17’
NY – Bradley Wright-Phillips 4 (Unassisted) 27’
NE – Jermaine Jones 1 (Teal Bunbury 2, Lee Nguyen 2) 85’
Misconduct Summary:
NE – A.J. Soares (Yellow Card) 23’
NE – Jermaine Jones (Yellow Card) 26’
NY – Thierry Henry (Yellow Card) 37’
NY – Ibrahim Sekagya (Yellow Card) 43’
NY – Richard Eckersley (Yellow Card) 54’
NY – Bradley Wright-Phillips (Yellow Card) 60’
NY – Eric Alexander (Yellow Card) 63’
NE – Scott Caldwell (Yellow Card) 67’
NY – Tim Cahill (Yellow Card) 77’
NE – Lee Nguyen (Yellow Card) 83’
New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth; Chris Tierney, Jose Goncalves ©, A.J. Soares, Andrew Farrell; Scott Caldwell, Jermaine Jones, Kelyn Rowe (Kevin Alston 62’), Lee Nguyen (Andy Dorman 94+), Teal Bunbury; Charlie Davies (Patrick Mullins 85’)
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Darrius Barnes, Daigo Kobayashi, Diego Fagundez
STATS: Shots 8, Shots on target 4, Saves 6, Corner kicks 2, Offsides 2, Fouls 13, Possession 39.5%, Passes 282 (72.5%)
New York Red Bulls: Luis Robles; Ambroise Oyongo, Ibrahim Sekagya, Jamison Olave, Richard Eckersley; Dax McCarty, Eric Alexander (Tim Cahill 76’), Lloyd Sam, Peguy Luyindula, Thierry Henry ©; Bradley Wright-Phillips
Substitutes Not Used: Ryan Meara, Connor Lade, Damien Perrinelle, Chris Duvall, Marius Obekop, Ruben Bover
STATS: Shots 18, Shots on target 7, Saves 2, Corner kicks 6, Offsides 2, Fouls 16, Possession 60.5%, Passes 425 (81.2%)
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referees: Craig Lowry (AR1) and Jonathan Johnson (AR2)
Fourth Official: Chris Penso
Weather: Sunny and 54 degrees
Attendance: 25,000
Additional Game Notes
- With the 2-1 win, the Revolution will take a one-goal lead on aggregate into the second leg of the series, which will be at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, November 29.
- The win was New England’s first-ever at Red Bull Arena.
- The Revolution are now 2-0-0 on the road in the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs. They beat the Columbus Crew 4-2 in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on November 1.
- The Revs have scored two or more goals in all three of their postseason games this year. They had done so 10 times in their 36 playoff games before 2014.
- New England is now 4-1-2 all-time against New York in the postseason. This is the first time that they’ve met in the playoffs since 2007 and the first time that they’ve ever met in the Conference Championship.
- This was the first-ever postseason meeting between the Revolution and Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena, but New England is now 2-1-1 on the road against New York in the postseason.
- This is the 10th two-leg, aggregate-goal series that the Revolution have played in since MLS adopted the format in 2003. They are now 6-2-2 in the first leg of those series.
- In their last 15 games, since an August 2 loss to the Red Bulls, the Revolution are 12-1-2 in all competitions.
- New England is now 5-10-3 on the road in the MLS Cup Playoffs. This is the first time that the club has won consecutive postseason road games since the 2002 MLS Cup Semifinals and the 2003 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Those wins were against Columbus and New York as well.
- Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made one change to the team that beat Columbus 3-1 in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on November 9. Andrew Farrell, who missed the game with a right-leg injury, returned to the lineup in place of Kevin Alston, who had started in his stead against the Crew.
- Teal Bunbury gave the Revolution a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute with a left-footed strike for his second goal in as many games.
- This was the first time in his career that Bunbury had scored in consecutive playoff games.
- Jermaine Jones was credited with the lone assist on the goal. That was also his second assist of the playoffs.
- Bradley Wright-Phillips evened the score 10 minutes later with his MLS-best fourth goal of the playoffs. He scored in both games between the Revolution and Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena this season.
- That goal was the first conceded by the Revs in the first half of a playoff game this season.
- Jermaine Jones scored the game-winning goal for the Revs in the 85th minute. That was the first goal of his MLS playoff career.
- Jones now has three goals in all competitions for the Revs with all three being game-winners.
- Additionally, the Revs are 8-0-0 when Jones has a goal or an assist.
- Teal Bunbury and Lee Nguyen were each credited with assists on the goal.
- This was the second straight game that Bunbury had a goal and an assist. He entered the postseason with two goals and no assists in his five playoff games prior to joining the Revs.
- Nguyen now has three postseason assists for the Revs, leaving him one shy of Jose Cancela and Steve Ralston’s club record.
- New England is now 17-1-2 in 2014 when Nguyen has a goal or an assist.
- Nguyen has a goal or an assist in eight straight games in all competitions with New England going 7-0-1 in that time.
- While he did have an assist, Lee Nguyen did not have a goal, ending his string of six consecutive games with a goal.
- Referee Allen Chapman issued 10 yellow cards in the game with New York being shown six and the Revs being shown four.
- Of the 10 players that were booked, only Bradley Wright-Phillips had previously been booked in the playoffs, meaning that he will now be suspended for the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship next weekend.
- Captain Jose Goncalves had been the only Revolution player to have been booked entering the game.
- Bobby Shuttleworth finished the game with six saves. This was his second straight game with six saves and he now has 16 in three playoff matches.
- Daigo Kobayashi was an unused substitute on the afternoon. This was the first time that he did not appear in an MLS game for the club. He has now played in 38 of the 40 games that New England has played in all competitions this year.
- The Revs are now 20-0-1 in all competitions this season when scoring two or more goals.
