Painful loss for the Revolution
Three players injured in 3-0 defeat on road
The New England Revolution closed out as threegame road swing with a 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa.
The setback was compounded when team captain and playmaker Carles Gil, defensive midfielder Matt Polster and right back Brandon Bye left the game with injuries on a team that is hemorrhaging starters. Union (6-4-3) keeper Andre Blake recorded his MLS 67th clean sheet.
The Revolution (7-3-3) begin a busy stretch of three games in eight days starting at home against the Chicago Fire on May 27. The Revolution go back on the road for a match at Atlanta United FC on May 31 and New York City FC on June 3.
“We will see how the players progress during the week and leave it at that,” said Revolution head coach Bruce Arena. “Injuries are a part of the game and we have to deal with it. We have had a lot of injuries this year and it is all part of it. Hopefully our luck will turn a bit.”
Arena made no changes to the Starting XI he put on the pitch for the Revolution’s 2-1 loss at Inter Miami on May 13. That had more to do with strikers Dylan Borrero (knee) and Gustavo Bou (leg) being out with injuries.
Arena prefers to use two strikers, but Bobby Wood made his third straight start as the lone front man in the Revolution’s 4-2-3-1 formation. Philly coach Jim Curtain countered with a midfield centric 3-5-2 combination with strikers Mikael Uhre and Julian Carranza up top.
There were a few notable plays in the scoreless first half. Revolution midfielder Emmanuel Boateng set up Wood for an open shot in the penalty area in the 19th minute but he fired wide right.
Revolution keeper Djordje Petrovic made a spectacular save on Carranza’s header inside the sixyard box in the 27th minute. Gil went down with a leg injury and left the game in the 34th minute. He was replaced by homegrown rookie Jack Panayotou.
“He (Panayotou) did OK and it was obviously challenging for him,” said Arena. “Hopefully it is a good experience for him that will help him as he moves forward.”
Philadelphia went up 1-0 on an alert play by Uhre on a restart in the 57th minute. Uhre made a throw in to Daniel Gazdag, who was unaccounted for in the penalty area. Gazdag wheeled and delivered a screamer inside the near post.
Justin Rennicks replaced Wood in the 67th minute in an attempt to generate the equalizer. The Revs suffered another setback on the injury front when midfielder Polster went down in the 70th minute.
“We came out in the second half and made some really poor errors that resulted in two goals,” said Arena. “The third goal was a play that happens.”
The Union were awarded a penalty kick when center back Andrew Farrell took down Uhre in the penalty area. Gazdag was awarded the penalty kick and notched a brace with a kick inside the far post for his team-high sixth tally. Carranza scored in the 89th minute.