The New England Revolution would square off Saturday night against Eastern Conference rival the Philadelphia Union in the Round of 16 of the MLS Is Back tournament. In their last 10 matches, the Union have prevailed with a 7-1-2 record, including a big 6-1 win the last time these two faced off at Subaru Park in Philadelphia. The Revolution starting XI features a backline combination that has yet to be displayed throughout their time in Orlando. Andrew Farrell starts his second game of the tournament, his first alongside center back Antonio Delemea. After creating numerous chances in their previous match, Tajon Buchanan makes another appearance in the starting lineup for Bruce Arena’s side.
Both teams were able to generate chances throughout the first 45 minutes, but neither team was able to find the back of the net. The best chance of the half came when forward Tajon Buchanan found himself in alone, but Union goalkeeper Andre Blake was able to get a fingertip on the shot, pushing it over the crossbar.
An evenly matched first half, brought us into half-time with both teams knotted at 0-0. At the break, Philadelphia would lead on shots 7-5 while holding 59% of possession.
The Revolution would come out of the break flying. Within the first 10 minutes of the half, the Revs had generated 5 shots and numerous opportunities. However, they were still unable to find a way to put one into the Philadelphia net.
The narrative of the Revolution in recent history has been good play, bad giveaways. This was brought into the spotlight once again tonight. After dominating the first portion of the second half, a poor giveaway in the 63rd minute would lead to the Union’s best chance of the night. Sergio Santos would find his way in behind the defense and was able to tuck one past Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner.
The Revolution would fight on in hopes of an equalizer, but were never able to create any dangerous chances around the Philadelphia net.
The Union would hold on to win the match 1-0 knocking the Revolution out of the tournament. After a great start and showing a lot of potential, the Revolution seem to have fallen back to their old ways.
The Philadelphia Union now await the results of the Sporting Kansas City and Vancouver Whitecaps match and will move on to play the winner of the two.
