Team

Recap | Bunbury's brace lifts Revolution to 2-1 win at Chicago Fire FC

Teal Bunbury goal celebration at Chicago Fire FC (2020, Colonial)

CHICAGO – The New England Revolution (3-2-5, 14 pts.) defeated Chicago Fire FC, 2-1, on Sunday night in the clubs’ first meeting at Soldier Field since 2005. Teal Bunbury scored both of the Revolution’s goals in the win, first finding the back of the net with the team’s quickest strike of the season at the 2:38 mark of the first half. Chicago’s Fabian Herbers equalized for the hosts in the 22nd minute, but Bunbury again scored in the 54th minute with a right-footed goal from distance.

Bunbury now owns a team-high four goals on the season and 38 for his Revolution career. The brace – his first since July 22, 2017 – moves him past Shalrie Joseph and Pat Noonan and into sixth place on New England’s all-time goal scoring chart. Both Adam Buksa and Tommy McNamara registered their first career assists with the Revolution on Bunbury’s first goal, while Alexander Büttner recorded his second assist of the year on Bunbury’s second tally.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner, who eclipsed 5,000 career minutes played tonight, submitted a season-high six saves to reach 200 saves for his career. Turner’s 30 saves this season are tied for third most in MLS, trailing only New York City’s Sean Johnson and Philadelphia’s Andre Blake.

New England returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 12, when the club visits the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and in Portuguese on WBIX 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA.

POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 2, Chicago Fire FC 1
September 6, 2020 – Soldier Field (Chicago, Ill.)

Revolution Defeat Chicago Fire FC, 2-1, at Soldier Field

  • The Revolution (3-2-5, 14 pts.) logged their third win of the season on Sunday night with a 2-1 victory over Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field. The match was New England’s first at Soldier Field since 2005.
  • The victory was New England’s second consecutive road win, following the club’s 2-1 victory at D.C. United on Aug. 25 at Audi Field.
  • Forward Teal Bunbury scored both goals for New England. Bunbury gave the Revolution a 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute on assists from midfielder Tommy McNamara and forward Adam Buksa and netted the game-winner in the 54th minute on defender Alexander Büttner’s assist.
  • Head Coach Bruce Arena’s career head coaching record improves to 212-126-101. Arena’s teams remain unbeaten, 12-0-3, when scoring the first goal against Chicago.

Teal Bunbury Logs Club’s First Brace of 2020

  • Forward Teal Bunbury scored both New England’s goals of the match, logging the club’s first brace of the 2020 season. The brace was the fifth of Bunbury’s career and his first since scoring two goals on July 22, 2017 in a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy.
  • Bunbury’s goals were the 37th and 38th of his Revolution career, which moves him past Shalrie Joseph and Pat Noonan for sixth place on the club’s all-time scoring list. Bunbury is three goals away from matching Joe-Max Moore (41) for fifth place on the club’s list.
  • With four goals on the season, Bunbury leaps Gustavo Bou (3 goals) as the team’s leading scorer.
  • The 3rd-minute tally, coming at the 2:38 mark of the match, was New England’s fastest goal of the season.
  • Defender Alexander Büttner recorded his second assist of the season on Bunbury’s game-winner in the 54th minute. Büttner is tied for the team lead in assists with forward Cristian Penilla.

Tommy McNamara Makes Second Consecutive Start, Registers First Revs Assist

  • Midfielder Tommy McNamara registered his third consecutive appearance since joining the Revolution on Aug. 17 via trade with the Houston Dynamo.
  • McNamara’s assist on Bunbury’s third-minute strike was his first of the 2020 campaign and his first in a Revolution uniform.
  • The seventh-year veteran has accrued 18 assists for his MLS career to go along with 16 goals across 132 appearances and more than 7,700 minutes played.

Matt Turner Reaches Career Milestones in Saves, Minutes Played

  • Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner eclipsed the 5,000 career minutes played milestone tonight. Turner currently stands at 5,006 career minutes played.
  • Turner registered a season-high six saves in the victory, giving him 200 saves for his career.

Revolution Make Five Changes to Starting Lineup

  • The Revolution made five changes to the starting lineup as Andrew Farrell, Antonio Delamea, Alexander Büttner, Diego Fagundez and Adam Buksa started in place of Henry Kessler, Michael Mancienne, DeJuan Jones, Kelyn Rowe and Cristian Penilla.
  • Bye, who has started every match this season and leads the team in minutes played (852), logged a team-high four clearances. Bye is 21 minutes away from reaching 5,000 career minutes played and leads the MLS in aerials won (47).
  • Fagundez made his 182nd career start, putting him three shy of matching Lee Nguyen for seventh most starts in Revolution history. The Leominster, Mass. product is three appearances shy of matching Matt Reis (254) for second most in club history.
  • Buksa, who returned to the Starting XI tonight and played 77 minutes, recorded his first MLS assist.
  • First-year defender Henry Kessler, who entered the match as a halftime substitution, has appeared in every game of his rookie season.

GAME CAPSULE

Referee: Robert Sibiga
Assistant Referees: Peter Balciunas, Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein
Fourth Official: Ismir Pekmic
Video Assistant Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Weather: 79 degrees and cloudy
Attendance: N/A

Scoring Summary:
NE- Teal Bunbury 3 (Tommy McNamara 1, Adam Buksa 1) 3’
CHI- Fabian Herbers (Miguel Navarro) 22’
NE- Teal Bunbury 4 (Alexander Büttner 2) 54’

Misconduct Summary:
NE- Diego Fagundez (Unsporting Behavior) 35’

New England Revolution: Matt Turner; Andrew Farrell, Brandon Bye, Antonio Delamea (Henry Kessler HT), Alexander Büttner; Gustavo Bou ©, Matt Polster (Kelyn Rowe 80’), Diego Fagundez (Scott Caldwell 70’), Tommy McNamara (Cristian Penilla 57’), Adam Buksa (Tajon Buchanan, 77’), Teal Bunbury

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, DeJuan Jones, Seth Sinovic, Kekuta Manneh, Michael Mancienne

Chicago Fire FC: Bobby Shuttleworth; Boris Sekulić, Francisco Calvo ©, Miguel Navarro; Alvaro Medrán (Brian Gutierrez 89’), Przemyslaw Frankowski (Jonathan Bornstein 89’), Mauricio Pineda, Gaston Gimenez, Ignacio Aliseda, Fabian Herbers (Robert Berić 59’), Elliot Collier (Djordje Mihailovic 69’)

Substitutes Not Used: Connor Sparrow, Brandt Bronico, Michael Azira, Wyatt Omsberg, Andre Reynolds III