A mere 7 1/2 weeks after the New York Red Bulls got the best of the New England Revolution in a controversial finish, the Eastern Conference rivals meet again with both in need of a jumpstart.
While the Red Bulls earned a 2-1 victory over the Revolution on July 8 at home, the teams will gather Wednesday at Foxborough, Mass.
Wikelman Carmona scored the match-winner for New York in the previous meeting on a deflected left-footed blast from outside of the penalty area in the 85th minute. Frankie Amaya also scored in the 58th minute for the Red Bulls (7-10-8, 29 points).
The Revolution played the final 30-plus minutes a man down after Latif Blessing’s red card, yet appeared to pull off a tie with a goal from Andrew Farrell in the third minute of second-half stoppage time. But the score was negated on an offsides call, with the Professional Referee Organization determining days later it was a blown call.
It was too little, too late for the Revs (12-5-7, 43 points), who received a goal from Brandon Bye, but were left with their only loss in six July matches across all competitions (3-1-2).
After getting eliminated from Leagues Cup play in the Round of 16 on Aug. 7, New England finally returned to MLS play Saturday but fell on the road 1-0 to CF Montreal. The lone score came in the 86th minute from Montreal’s George Campbell.
Farrell and Bye were out with injuries Saturday for New England, as were Gustavo Bou and DeJuan Jones. Bye underwent season-ending knee surgery this week.
“It didn’t really matter who we were missing,” said the Revs’ Mark-Anthony Kaye, who was making his first appearance with the club. “I just don’t think we showed enough quality going forward.”
The Red Bulls enter after a 2-0 loss to Inter Miami. Lionel Messi did not start for Miami, but he made his MLS regular-season debut in the 60th minute and scored in the 89th minute. New York lost despite a 13-6 advantage in shots and a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal.
“This was a three-point opportunity that we had a job to do; that we wanted to stay laser-focused on that,” Red Bulls coach Troy Lesesne said. “We didn’t want to get too involved in the spectacle of what the night to be. Now I would say we have to turn the page really quickly because we go to New England and that’s a really difficult place to go and get three points.”
Amaya leads New York with four goals, while Bobby Wood and Carles Gil each have seven for New England.
–Field Level Media
