FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The hits just keep on coming.
In what was a hard-fought matchup between two longtime Eastern Conference foes, and the New England Revolution narrowly came out on top, downing the New York Red Bulls 1-0.
New York played admirably, as their depleted backline managed to hold firm for much of the game, but one moment completely changed the complexion of the match.
With defender Kemar Lawrence down on the pitch and unable to continue, the Revs elected to play on, springing Juan Agudelo in behind the defense who crossed to a unmarked Diego Fagundez for the game’s only goal.
The play sparked controversy surrounding the “unwritten rules” of the game; and whether or not fair play should have been enacted from the home side by playing the ball out in order to let Lawrence receive medical attention. Nevertheless, the goal stood and turned out to be the difference on the night.
Tons to talk about in this one. Here are my three takeaways from New York’s defeat in New England.
Patchwork Defense Stands Tall
Despite being down to their fourth and fifth choice centerbacks, the Red Bulls managed to defend admirably for the entirety of the match. Boasting dynamic attackers like Lee Nguyen, Teal Bunbury, Agudelo, and Fagundez, New York’s defensive core held their opponents silent for the most of the match.
If not for the aforementioned controversial moment, the Red Bulls may have recorded a shutout on the night. And despite his frustration with the proceedings on the night, head coach Jesse Marsch still exuded pride in his bunch.
“Our team played great,” he said after the match. “Our team had fight, stuck together, had confidence; even a man down, we played quite well and were the better team. It’s frustrating to lose, but in many ways, I think that was a great performance for us and we’re unlucky not to get out of here with something.”
The Red Bulls are still in search of their first shutout of 2016, but the captain was pleased with his side’s defensive performance on the night.
“I thought we limited them defensively,” Dax McCarty told NewYorkRedBulls.com after the match. “They have a lot of good attacking players and I thought—for the most part—we shut down their attack. They didn’t have much in the game aside from a couple shots that went wide, but no really good chances.”
Amongst the defenders that stood out, Marsch singled out Karl Ouimette, stating the Canadian international played his best match in a Red Bulls uniform.
“I think me, Kemar, Dax, the entire backline helped a lot,” Ouimette said. “We didn’t give them many chances apart from the goal. I don’t remember a lot of shots on goal, no breakaways, nothing. Everyone was solid defensively tonight, but we get scored on by a crazy goal. It was a bad decision, but you have to take it.”
Duvall Returns to the Fray
With Lawrence forced out of the match, the already shorthanded Red Bulls were forced to make yet another change on their backline. In the lead up to the match, Marsch pondered his defensive options, with Chris Duvall being one of the contenders for a starting role.
“The best thing about Chris is that he’s a competitor and he knows how we play,” Marsch said earlier in the week. “It would be a little bit outside the box to put him at centerback, but I think he’s a good player and a smart player. If that was the decision that got made, I think he’d do a good job.”
Duvall eventually got his chance in the 58th minute, and proved his head coach correct.
While admittedly under unfortunate circumstances, Duvall’s long-awaited return to the pitch was a welcome sight to fans, coaches, and teammates alike, putting in a solid shift in the process.
“It was awesome to see Chris out there again,” defender Connor Lade said. “He’s a big part of everything we believe in here. He embodies the message and style of play that we want to play with. To see all the hard work he’s put in from the time of the injury to now, to see him back on the field means a whole lot to him and to us.”
Shelved since suffering a broken tibia during the team’s matchup with the New York Cosmos last summer, Duvall finally reaped the fruits of his labor. But in typical fashion, the Wake Forest product was quick to turn the attention back onto the team.
“The main focus wasn’t getting back on the field, it was just trying to see if I could help the team get a win,” he said after the loss. “Coming in a goal down and soon after being a man down, the nerves about getting back on the field are all gone. You’re just trying to make sure the team is organized and do your job. This wasn’t really a focus on me, it was just about doing whatever I could to try to help our team win.”
Depth Tested Even Further
The Red Bulls were already shorthanded heading into tonight’s match with the Revolution, but things have gone from bad to worse.
Already missing Gideon Baah, Ronald Zubar, and Gonzalo Veron, New York will be forced to dip even further into their reserves for their next match against Sporting Kansas City. The extent of Lawrence’s injury remains unknown, but Felipe’s exclusion from the match is more or less a definite.
Unless the Red Bulls choose to appeal (and win) the red card he was shown in the 61st minute, the Brazilian will be resigned to a seat in the sky boxes on April 9.
As a result, the depth chart will be shuffled, forcing some new faces into the fold.
“We talked about our depth in preseason that it was going be a key for us this season,” Sacha Kljestan said. “Now we’re being tested, probably earlier than we thought. It comes with the territory and now other guys have to step up. We know that we have players that will step up and I think we’ll be ok.”
It would be impossible to deny that the losses suffered within the squad are quite substantial, but that hasn’t dampened the confidence within the New York locker room. When one player goes down, it simply provides a platform for the next man up to make his mark.
“We’ll respond,” McCarty said confidently. “We have a lot of good players on this team. We just have to make sure that the guys on the bench and the young guys that are going to get an opportunity step up. We have full confidence that we’ll be able to start picking up a couple of wins here.”
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