Diego Fagundez and Juan Agudelo embrace in what might be their final match as members of the New England Revolution on Sunday (Photo Credit: Kari Heistad)
New England Revolution 1- Montreal Impact 0
There is nothing wrong with playing the role of spoiler. Despite already being eliminated from the MLS Cup Playoffs the New England Revolution made sure that their Decision Day was a memorable one. With an uncertain future facing them the Revs eliminated the Impact from playoff contention on Sunday with a 1-0 win in front of 28,832 at Gillette Stadium.
Entering into Sunday’s match the pressure was on Montreal. A win and a little luck in the Columbus Crew-Minnesota United match would mean that the Canadian side would make it into MLS’ second season. Impact manager Remi Garde went with a high press, using Ignacio Piatti and Saphir Taider’s speed to push the Revolution’s defense on their heels.
Despite the Impact’s best efforts though they were impeded by Revolution back-up goalkeeper Matt Turner, who was making his first start in eight matches. The Fairfield graduate made four saves for the Revs including a diving effort off of a Quincy Amarikwa effort in the 49th minute. The Impact had another clear opportunity just five minutes later with Alejandro Silva hitting a low effort towards the right post. But Turner was more than up for the task, making the diving effort to deny Montreal the opening goal.
Goalkeeper Matt Turner earned the clean sheet for the Revs on Sunday against the Impact (Photo Credit: Kari Heistad)
For New England Revolution coach Brad Friedel the point of bringing in Turner was to test where his mind is at and see what he can contribute going forward. “He’s thirty three years of age and we know all about Brad Knighton,” said Friedel. “Matt Turner had a very good first third of the season then had a little bit of a confidence drop and that’s not easy to take as a goalkeeper and it was his first season. So, I did not tell him he was playing until about an hour and forty five minutes before the game when I named the team and I wanted to see what his reaction was like and I thought his reaction was very good.”
Turner wasn’t the only major change in Friedel’s starting eleven. The first-year manager opted to give the captain’s armband to Michael Mancienne, Mancienne, who joined the club back in July, has started all ten of the matches that he has played in for the Revs and steadily become a favorite for Friedel in the back four. He his efforts in limiting Piatti’s runs down the right flank helped preserve the clean sheet for Turner.
“I’d be a leader if I wasn’t wearing the armband, to be honest,” said Mancienne. “I think we all have to be like that, especially the older players. You can’t be quiet. If you want to be successful, everyone’s got to be a leader on the pitch. You can’t carry any passengers. It just can’t be done. No winning team carries passengers and wins trophies, and if we want to make it to the playoffs, we’ve all got to leaders and take responsibility out on the pitch.”
New England’s lone goal came from Diego Fagundez in the 74th minute off of a pass from Cristian Penilla. With the goal Fagundez reached 50 career in Major League Soccer and became the youngest player ever to reach the feat. Fagundez has featured for the side since 2011, racking up 211 appearances in the process.
Yet there has been some speculation that Fagundez might be leaving the club after seven seasons with the senior side. In a tweet earlier in the week Fagundez’s father hinted that Sunday’s match Gillette might be his last for the club.
Fagundez himself after the match remained coy about his future plans.
“I like playing for these coaches,” he said after the match. “You can tell they’re hungry to make the playoffs, they want to win games and make sure that we’re winning cups. I’m just here to do everything I can to make sure that I’m getting better and performing, just trying to give everything I can to this club, to this team. Whatever happens, happens. Right now, we’re happy where we are and it’s not up to me exactly what the decision is, so just looking forward to what’s coming up.”
While the win means that New England finished in seventh place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference it also marks the end of the 2018 MLS campaign for the side. While there were certainly many reasons for celebration the club already seems to be moving into planning mode for the next season.
Much like Fagundez, Friedel didn’t really go into specifics as to what the club’s plans are for the weeks ahead. When asked about potential signings Fridel kept it brief saying, “You’ll see as the signings are made. They’ll be very prominent. It won’t be difficult for you to detect where we want to improve, as the signings are announced.”
Montreal Impact
NE Revolution
