New England Revolution

3 takeaways from the Revolution’s 4-2 loss vs. New York Red Bulls

An inability to deal with New York's direct approach doomed the Revolution, prolonging New England's stay in the Eastern Conference basement.

By Hayden Bird

May 12, 2024

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The good news on Saturday for the Revolution was that Caleb Porter’s team finally scored multiple goals in a league game in 2024. The bad news, as has now been the case three times this season, was that New England conceded four.

The 4-2 defeat to the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena meant the Revolution will continue the club’s prolonged residence in the Eastern Conference basement. Now 2-8-1, the brief reprieve from last week’s road win in Chicago was immediately washed away.

After surrendering the opener just six minutes into the game on the most elementary of long balls (which New York forward Lewis Morgan latched onto and finished easily), the Revolution tied the contest via a rarely-seen Carles Gil headed goal in the 24th minute.

The Red Bulls regained the lead after a lengthy Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check resulted in a penalty kick for New York due to a handball in the box from center-back Henry Kessler (which Emil Forsberg calmly converted for the home team).

In the second half, New York seemed largely content to sit back and absorb New England pressure, eventually working a third goal during a brief foray forward.

A Giacomo Vrioni goal pulled the game back to within striking distance for the Revolution in stoppage time, but what little hope remained was extinguished only moments later when Red Bulls substitute Cameron Harper snuck behind New England’s defense to add a fourth, sealing the game.

Here are a few takeaways from another tough night for the Revolution:

Revolution conceded goals on some straightforward, direct attacks.

New England once again set up in a 4-2-3-1, with one minor tweak from last week’s 1-0 win over Chicago. Left back Ryan Spaulding, who played against Chicago, was a late scratch to the lineup due to an illness. Right back Nick Lima shifted to the left, with Andrew Farrell coming off the bench to play right back.

Farrell, the 32-year-old club legend (as the Revolution’s all-time leader in appearances, starts, and minutes), was admittedly put in a difficult position by the late switch. Unfortunately for New England, it resulted in a night to forget for the veteran defender.

In the sixth minute, New York center back Sean Nealis collected a pass from goalkeeper Carlos Coronel deep in his own territory before turning and lofting a simple long ball forward. New England center-backs Kessler and Xavier Arreaga—holding a higher line at midfield—couldn’t quite reach the speculative pass to head it clear, allowing the ball to bounce behind them.

New York forward Lewis Morgan didn’t hesitate, timing his run to perfection as he knifed in from the left channel. Cutting in from the space between Farrell and New England’s center backs, Morgan won the foot race, maintained his composure after winning the ball, and slotted it into the low corner to give the Red Bulls an early lead.

Whether marking Morgan was actually his responsibility or not (given Red Bull attacker was nominally listed as center forward), Farrell couldn’t maintain a goal-side position, and lost the ensuing foot race.

In the second half, New York scored its third goal on another sequence that New England will find disappointing upon review. It began with Red Bulls midfielder Frankie Amaya lobbing yet another long ball forward (this time from half-field). The crossfield pass found left midfielder Wikelman Carmona, who played a nice give-and-go with New York defender Noah Eile, and beat Farrell to the end line before firing a low cross to Red Bulls substitute Elias Manoel in the box.

Manoel found space just in front of Kessler and behind Revolution holding midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye, taking a good first touch before easily passing the ball into the corner of the goal.

Though Farrell was again a central component in the defensive breakdown, there was plenty of blame to go around New England’s struggling defense. That Manoel was able to find enough space in the box to take an extra touch to compose himself was a clear lapse of marking, adding to Farrell’s inability to track Carmona.

Coming into the game, much of the focus was on the Red Bulls’ ability to press and force turnovers to create chances. The Revolution actually did a decent job of limiting New York’s goal-scoring opportunities via the press, but instead gave up multiple goals off of sequences that began with simple long passes over the top.

Possession that largely went nowhere.

The Revolution churned out 572 completed passes—New England’s second highest total of the season—against just 228 from New York (a percentage disparity of 67-33). Yet of those hundreds of passes, 262 (45.8%) were made by Kessler, Arreaga, and Kaye.

Capable as those players are in possession—the trio completed an efficient 89% of attempted passes—they are also the Revolution’s farthest three outfield players from the opposing goal. Of its closest player to goal, the 25-year-old Vrioni, it can be said that he technically did his part by scoring.

Yet aside from the forgettable nature of his goal (New England trailed 3-1 in stoppage time when he scored, and—though it’s not his fault—immediately conceded a fourth seconds later), he was once again barely involved in the game.

Registering just 25 touches over 90 minutes, Vrioni finished the night ranked last among the game’s starters from both teams. The only player equal to him in that category, fellow forward Dante Vanzeir, was subbed off by New York with 20 minutes to go. Even both goalkeepers were more involved, with both Alijaz Ivacic of the Revolution and New York’s Coronel totaling more passes and touches on the ball.

All of this underscored a trend that has been prevalent all season: The Revolution can possess the ball, but lack the ability (and perhaps the personnel) to leverage that statistical advantage into creating consistent chances in the final third.

Dylan Borrero exited on a stretcher having only just returned from a torn ACL.

Probably the toughest moment of the night arrived deep into stoppage time, when second-half substitute Dylan Borrero tried to box out New York midfielder Daniel Edelman on a ball up in the air. Inadvertently, Edelman’s leg collided with Borrero’s planted left knee, sending him to the ground in agony.

Borrero, a highly promising 22-year-old Colombian winger, has only just returned after a year following a torn left ACL in 2023. As a result, the image of him on the ground in obvious pain and clutching his left knee was especially difficult to see. He was stretchered off with Noel Buck being subbed on in his place.

“I don’t know,” Porter said after the game when asked about Borrero’s status. “I don’t know what it is. Last I heard, maybe it wasn’t as serious as we thought initially, but I don’t know the extent of it. I’ll give you guys an update when I know.”

The Revolution now turn the page to next Saturday’s matchup at home against the Philadelphia Union. Added to the potential loss of Borrero is the unfortunate fact that winger Tomas Chancalay, provider of the assist on Gil’s goal, will be suspended after accruing his fifth yellow card of the season.