FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution finally got the ball to bounce their way – on April Fools’ Day, no less – as they beat the New York Red Bulls 1-0 at Gillette Stadium on Friday evening for their first win of the season.
Diego Fagundez scored his second goal of the year in the 55th minute to lead the Revolution, who entered the game on a four-game winless run and hadn’t scored in the run of play since a 3-3 tie against Houston in the opener.
The decisive play was eyebrow-raising: New York’s Kemar Lawrence hit the turf as Scott Caldwell played the ball in behind for Juan Agudelo, who squared it in the heart of area for Fagundez to slip inside the net.
But New York’s players protested referee Mark Geiger’s decision to not halt play for Lawrence, who was replaced moments later by Chris Duvall and left the match on a stretcher.
New York coach Jesse Marsch said after the game that the Revolution’s decision to keep playing after Lawrence went down betrayed “honor” and was “shameful.”
“I didn’t see much,” Fagundez countered afterward in the Revs locker room. “Once the ball was played over the top and I see Agudelo going in I thought it was offside.
“I kept looking, there was no call being made, [so]I just tried to make my run, the ball went across and I’m glad I was at the back post.”
Agudelo was less confident.
“They had the ball and they had a chance to kick it out, from what I remember,” Agudelo added. “We stole the ball and were able to finish through the play.
“Obviously I feel bad about it – they seemed really upset, maybe they had a reason – maybe their defense stays back and are aware of him going down, but it was just instinct.
“Once the ball’s hit to me, I can’t just hit it out of bounds – it’s a 50-50 – it’s a tough situation, I’ve never been in that situation.”
Heaps chose not to address Marsch’s comments and maintained that he hadn’t seen what had happened clearly. That said, Heaps did offer his thoughts on players continuing when a player is injured.
“I try to have our guys play to the whistle,” said Heaps. “I’m never going to stop them from playing to the whistle. There are injuries the referee has to stop.
“When the game is on and Agudelo gets a ball over the top and he’s onside inside the 18, he’s got to play that.”
Geiger made another game-altering call when he red carded New York’s Felipe in the 61st minute for a tackle from behind on Kelyn Rowe, which drew the ire of the Red Bulls.
“It’s not a red card,” said Marsch near the end of his press conference. “ I said I was going to stop, but I didn’t include that when I talked about the referee.”
Geiger has been a controversial figure for the Revolution in the past.
The last time he directed a Revolution match was in last year’s playoffs against D.C. United, when he red carded Jermaine Jones and failed to spot an obvious handball in the box that would have provided New England with a pivotal penalty kick.
But on Friday, the Revolution were simply rewarded for being more clinical than the Red Bulls, who edged the Revs 6-5 in shots on target.
Agudelo had the game’s first chance, his cheeky effort in the fourth minute to catch New York keeper Luis Robles off his line from 40 yards nearly coming off; Robles scampered back into his goal in time to deflect the shot with his fingertips, the ball ricocheting off the crossbar before safely hitting the turf.
Teal Bunbury snuck into the penalty area and belted a shot wide of the far post in the 14th minute, while New York’s Sal Zizzo forced Revolution keeper Bobby Shuttleworth to drop left and parry a low drive in the 21st minute.
London Woodberry rounded out the first half’s scoring chances, firing another effort wide of the far post in the 24th on a play that began with Fagundez and Scott Caldwell.
But the Revolution started the second half the way they ended the first. Rowe found Bunbury in the box in the 52nd minute, the ensuing diving header caught easily by Robles.
Fagundez scored moments later followed by the red card to Felipe, which set the Red Bulls back with less than half an hour remaining.
Bradley Wright-Phillips had New York’s final chance, his point-blank shot off a Duvall corner kick in the 81st minute corralled by Shuttleworth, who made a quick reaction stop.
“Bobby makes great saves throughout the season,” Heaps said. “But we’re really looking for him to make those saves when you’re 0-0 or up 1-0 to preserve the three points or preserve heavy draw on the road.”
The Revolution will temporarily move into a three-way tie for first place with Montreal and Philadelphia, both of whom play Saturday.
But New England will look to continue their winning ways in their next match, which is on April 9 against Toronto at Gillette Stadium.
The Revs will get a boost for that match, as central midfielder Gershon Koffie and right-back Je-Vaughn Watson will return, as both players were suspended for Friday’s match against New York.
“We were tired of hearing reports of us struggling,” added Agudelo. “We’re just a really good team that works hard and we deserved the three points, and maybe a couple more points in the past games.
“That feeling of the first win of the season is big.”
If you want to reach Julian, email him at julianccardillo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
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