With just 25 minutes of play under his belt since April due to injury, Ilay Feingold is already making a comeback for the New England Revolution. He entered Wednesday night’s match against New York City FC in the 72nd minute, shortly after New York City equalized to make it 1-1. With legs tiring in a tightly contested match, Feingold provided the late spark the Revs needed. The defender hit the ground running, delivering the match-winning assist in stoppage time to secure all three points and lift New England to third place in the Eastern Conference standings.
With such a big impact in such a short time, Feingold’s part in New England’s dramatic 2-1 win in Queens has him recognized on the MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi for Matchday 25.
In just 18 minutes, Feingold made multiple key passes to put the Revs in scoring positions. And after a few attempts across the box, one finally stuck. Feingold whipped a ball into the box from the right side of the field in the 93rd minute, finding Dániel Gazdag, who brought the ball down with his chest and finished the winner. With Feingold earning his first goal contribution since returning and Gazdag scoring his first goal for New England since joining the squad just over a week ago, it was a magical combination to send the Revs to victory.
“With Ilay, we still don’t have expectations. We have to understand that Ilay had four months out, he had surgery on July 8, that’s two months ago. When you have that surgery and you’re coming back, and he only had two weeks of practicing with us, something that Ilay has is a good mindset and he is working hard. We trust him, we believe in him, and today we gave him those minutes,” said head coach Marko Mitrović. “We are in a performance environment and once you step on the field, you have to perform as well. So, he did a great job both in and out of possession.”
The helper was Feingold’s second of the season, bringing his tally to three total goal contributions this year. With just 12 games played, Feingold’s journey to more consistent minutes will be an important weapon for New England, who have just 10 games remaining in the regular season.
The win in New York was the second victory of a four-game road stint, which the Revs will close at Chicago Fire FC on Sunday evening. Kickoff at Soldier Field is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.
