CHESTER, Pa. – The New England Revolution knew it was going to take an outstanding defensive effort to shut down the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night at PPL Park. That’s exactly what they got.
Bobby Shuttleworth made two saves and the Revs largely limited the Union counterattack, keeping their third clean sheet in the past five games in a critical 1-0 win.
“Philly’s a really good team, they’re playing well at home and they weren’t allowed to break on us,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “That was really key to our game plan was not letting them break on us. I thought we did an excellent job of limiting them.”
Heaps praised his center back pairing of Jose Goncalves and Andrew Farrell for a clean performance, while he credited the central midfield trio of Scott Caldwell, Jermaine Jones and Daigo Kobayashi with shutting down Cristian Maidana, who leads MLS with 14 assists.
“That was the key,” Heaps said. “He’s a playmaker for them. I thought Scotty did an excellent job, Jermaine did an excellent job into the 60th minute, and Daigo came in and did an excellent job. And they communicated with the outside backs, because Maidana drifts, so the outside backs had to be engaged.”
It was New England’s second straight shutout – their first consecutive clean sheets since early April – but it was Diego Fagundez’s goal shortly after halftime that turned the performance into three points.
After Charlie Davies cleverly flicked a throw-in into Fagundez’s path, the 20-year-old winger took the space afforded to him by the backpedaling Union defenders and calmly slotted a low shot past Union goalkeeper Andre Blake from the top of the box.
“I was surprised how much space they were actually giving me,” said Fagundez, who became the youngest player in MLS history to reach the 25-goal mark. “I just kept coming and coming and the space kept opening. I had to make sure I didn’t have a bad touch and just make sure that I had a good shot.”
The win – New England’s first on the road since their last visit to PPL Park on April 19 – extended the Revolution’s unbeaten run to five games (4-0-1) and moved them nine points clear of the playoff line in the Eastern Conference, just four points back of second-place Columbus Crew SC.
The team currently occupying that final playoff spot in the East is Orlando City SC, who’ll visit the Revs next Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
“We’re going one game at a time,” said Heaps. “I think right now the standings sort themselves out. You like to be above the red line, but the results and the next game at hand is where we have to be clinical.
“I think when you go on the road and get points, they’re only really valuable if you follow up the next week at home.”
