FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – When the New England Revolution were mired in a scoreless drought recently, Juan Agudelo expressed confidence that once the seal was broken, goals would flow.
He was right.
After breaking out of their slump last weekend with a 2-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids, the Revs bagged three more goals on Saturday night – and it could’ve been more – as they rolled to a comfortable 3-1 win over Eastern Conference leaders New York City FC.
“Personally, it’s the most fun I’ve had all season, these past two games,” Agudelo said. “It’s how I love playing and I’m sure all the other players around me are loving it, too.”
For the second straight weekend Agudelo opened the scoring, taking a clever feed from Diego Fagundez before cutting inside and burying a shot inside the far upper corner.
It was a well-worked opener, but ultimately it was just a prelude to New England’s sublime second. Andrew Farrell found Kelyn Rowe streaking down the right side, and Rowe beat his man before cutting back to the top of the box. Fagundez deftly dummied to let the pass roll to Lee Nguyen, who dipped his shoulder to lose a marker before calmly finishing from close range.
It was the type of goal New England’s über-talented attacking corps is capable of producing, and the type of sequence that’s been sparked by the Revolution’s recent switch to a 4-4-2 setup with Agudelo and Nguyen partnered up top.
“I loved our second goal because of that type of (interchanging) play,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “Diego had an unbelievable sense of where Lee was to make that play.
“We talk about chemistry, we talk about putting it into play, but those guys certainly have it and that’s important for us going down the stretch.”
New York City FC briefly threatened to make a game of it as they came flying out of the gates to start the second half and were rewarded when Frank Lampard cut the lead in half in the 49th minute. But the resilient Revs quelled any thoughts of a comeback with Fagundez’s 58th-minute capper.
“For us to let them come down and score like that was a gut punch, but I liked our reaction,” said Heaps. “It was really good. No one put their heads down.”
With six points gained from a pair of crucial home games, the Revs now turn their attention to Tuesday night’s U.S. Open Cup final against FC Dallas. And while the title match will be a different beast, New England’s performances the past two weekends offer a lift heading to Texas.
“It’s a huge boost, momentum-wise,” said Agudelo. “We’ve just got to keep the train going.”
