MATCH INFORMATION
New York Red Bulls at New England Revolution
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
May 2, 2015 7:30 p.m. ET (WEEK 9, MLS Game #81)
MSG │ MLS Live
Internet Radio: www.NewYorkRedBulls.com/live
#NEvNY
SETTING THE SCENE
The undefeated New York Red Bulls finish off a run of three games in six days on Saturday when they head to New England to take on the Eastern Conference-leading Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff on Saturday, May 2, is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast on MSG, with match coverage set to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Tickets for Red Bulls home games are available by visiting: www.newyorkredbulls.com/tickets.
This will be the first of two trips to Gillette for the Red Bulls this season. New York will host the Revs on July 11 before a return to Foxborough in September. New York is 22-26-15 all-time against New England, and 5-1-4 in the last 10 regular season meetings. New York won both matchups last year, including a 2-0 win at Gillette in June.
The clubs also faced off in the MLS Eastern Conference Final last November. New England advanced to MLS Cup after a hard-fought home-and-home series, defeating New York 4-3 on aggregate.
The Red Bulls are coming off a 1-1 draw at home on Wednesday against the Colorado Rapids while New England handily defeated Real Salt Lake 4-0 last Saturday at Gillette Stadium. NYRB won once and drew twice during their three game home stand—all against Western Conference opponents.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- The Revolution are undefeated in their last 12 league games at Gillette stadium dating back to July 30 of last season.
- The Red Bulls 3-0-4 start is the longest undefeated run to start the season in team history.
- New York is the only team in the Eastern Conference with a positive road goal differential (+1).
- The Red Bulls remain the only undefeated team in the league this season. Their six goals against are tied for best in the Eastern Conference bests while New York's +5 goal differential is tied for second-best in MLS in 2015.
- With the draw against Colorado, New York is now 34-7-14 since the start of the 2012 MLS season. The 116 points accumulated at home in that span are the most in Major League Soccer, ahead of Los Angeles (114), Seattle (113) and Salt Lake (110).
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The Red Bulls (3-0-4), remain in third place in the Eastern Conference behind D.C. United and New England Revolution—with a game in hand on New England—after Wednesdays' 1-1 draw at home against the Colorado Rapids. A header from Colorado's Gabriel Torres off of a Dillon Powers free kick opened the scoring in the 25th minute for the Rapids. Rapids fullback Ben Newman, who made his first career MLS start, took down Sacha Kljestan in the box five minutes later, resulting in a successful penalty kick from Bradley Wright-Phillips. A back-and-forth goalless second half left the game tied at 1-1 when the final whistle blew.
NYRB will look to continue their success on the road so far this season, winning in Columbus 2-1 and drawing against Kansas City and D.C., 1-1 and 2-2 respectively. However, New York will be going up against a New England quad that has not lost at Gillette Stadium in their last twelve league matches.
New York will have revenge on their mind as their 2014 campaign was ended at Gillette stadium in the MLS Eastern Conference finals. A 2-2 draw was not enough as the Red Bulls fell 4-3 on aggregate to the Revolution.
Once returning home from New England, the Red Bulls will prepare to host MLS expansion side New York City FC for the first time next Sunday May 10 at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution (4-2-2) are undefeated in their last five matches, including victories over San Jose, Colorado, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake in that span. The Revs rebounded from a slow start after capturing only one point from their first three contests. Last year's Eastern Conference champions looked impressive in last weekend's victory against Real Salt Lake, scoring four goals from four different players. Spreading the wealth has been the theme for the Revolution this season with seven different players accounting for the team's ten goals.
New England came out firing at home against an injury-ridden Salt Lake squad to take over a share of first place in the Eastern Conference with 14 points through eight games played.
U.S. International midfielder Jermaine Jones looks back to full health after a sports hernia injury forced him to miss the first five matches of the season. Jones played 45 minutes against Columbus on 4/11 before playing the full 90 minutes in the past two contests.
PREGAME CHATTER
Midfielder Sacha Kljestan on heading to New England…
"They knocked us out of the playoffs last year so we'll have some revenge on our minds, but we have to stay positive, go there, and try to get a good result, and get ready for a really important game against a good team."
Luis Robles on challenging the Revolution …
"New England has played well the last few games. They had a difficult start but the last few games, they've really clicked offensively so we know it is going to be battle…I know that this team has the character to deal with the adversity."
Revs Charlie Davies on the matchup…
“We have a ton of respect for Red Bull New York. We had a heated rivalry last year and they got a new coach [Jesse Marsch] who’s done a terrific job with them this year, and they’re unbeaten. It sets up for a good showdown here.”
