New England Revolution took three points from City Field on Wednesday night, beating New York City 2-1 in the 24th round of the Major League Soccer regular season. The visitors had already lost 1-1 on home turf earlier this month, but this time they held their nerve when it mattered.
Carles Gil opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the twelfth minute, and for long stretches New York City pressed forward, chasing the game. Luighi Hanri Sousa Santos levelled in the seventy-first before Dániel Gazdag struck at 90+3 to steal the win. A Gazdag goal at 85 was cancelled by VAR, which kept the hosts alive for a moment longer.
New England changed shape at half-time, or at least that is how it felt watching from the stands rather than the broadcast. They stopped trying to play through the middle and went direct, which is often when teams find their rhythm. We were backing the hosts, but the match went another way — and by then the visitors had nothing to lose, which made them dangerous.
City Field had 65 per cent possession and 111 attacks, but Shots accuracy sat at 0.33 with six shots on target and seven off. New England managed 35 per cent possession and 85 attacks, yet Shots accuracy was 0.55. Expected Goals told the story: 1.18 for the hosts, 2.36 for the visitors. Many shots with two goals means chances went begging when the other side took theirs.
The clean-sheet run came to an end for New York City, who now sit ninth with 29 points after 24 games. New England move to third with 40 points and have clawed their way back into the hunt. The old head settled them down, and that is what separates them from the teams that fold under pressure.
