FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – There was a clear objective for the New England Revolution in Sunday night’s home finale against New York City FC: secure a 12th win of the year at Gillette Stadium to establish a new club record for home wins in a single season.
A pair of goals from Diego Fagundez – his fifth and sixth of the season – helped make that objective a reality as the Revs dented NYCFC’s hopes a top-two seed in the East with a 2-1 win.
“It was something that we were pressing for during the week and something that we wanted to accomplish at the beginning of the season,” said Brad Knighton. “We were able to check that off our list this year as one of our goals. Just excited for the fans to be able to witness us playing at home and have such a good season at home.”
New England, who’d been issued four red cards in their previous five games, were finally on the right side of a refereeing decision as NYCFC were reduced to 10 men in the 26th minute when Jack Harrison was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Teal Bunbury.
The hosts made the most of their numerical advantage after the halftime break, using their width to stretch NYCFC and find the gaps in between, resulting in Fagundez’s opening goal in the 51st minute and his capper in stoppage time.
“When you go down a man, it’s all about being compact and keeping with your blocks in close to the goal,” said Knighton. “If we could get the ball in wide areas and spread them out a bit and possess the ball a little bit more, we knew there were going to be gaps that opened up.
“We were able to find those gaps in the second half and create chances.”
In sharp contrast to New England’s record-breaking home form they’ll now head to Montreal next weekend looking to avoid their first-ever winless season on the road, as they’ll cross the border with an away record of 0-13-3 on the year.
The Revolution’s last road win: September 17, 2016 at the Montreal Impact.
“We want to finish off strong,” said Andrew Farrell, who assisted on Fagundez’s opener. “We want to end the season well. We haven’t gotten a win on the road yet, so that’s something we want to check off the list.
“It’s a little late now, but it’s something that we want to take pride in and finish the season strong.”
