FOXBORO – The New England Revolution lost another game by beating themselves.
The Philadelphia Union enjoyed a numerical advantage for 76 minutes of regulation plus 13 minutes of stoppage time and rolled to a 3-0 victory over the Revolution before 44,947 fans on a cold, overcast Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
The Revolution chances for securing a needed result was compromised in the 14th minute. New England left back Ryan Spaulding was issued a red card by referee Filip Dujic for tripping Philly attacker Julian Carranza from behind in the Revolution zone. The official ruling was denial of a scoring opportunity.
“It is a red card 15 minutes into the game and it ruined the whole game,” said Revolution head coach Caleb Porter. “I still think it is harsh, they were both grabbing each other and I’ve seen that play called a yellow many times.
“But we should never have put ourselves in that situation. We can’t lose the ball there and we can’t foul 50 yards from the goal. It was not a smart play. it was not a good play but it cost us.”
The Revolution (2-9-1) dropped the first of four home games in five matches while the Union (4-4-5) snapped a six-game winless streak with their third road win of the season. The Revolution will look to fix the homestand when they host New York City FC on May 25. NYCFC beat the Revolution 2-0 on April 13 at Yankee Stadium.
“We will put it behind us because the majority of the group understands we lost the game because we had a red card 15 minutes in,” said Porter. “No one is down and they are going to keep their heads up and we will continue to work.”
Porter made two changes to his Starting XI that were beaten 4-2 by the New York Red Bulls on May 11 at Red Bulls Arena in Harrison, N.J. One of the changes was compulsory. Revolution forward Tomas Chancalay was suspended for yellow card accumulation and was replaced by Dylan Borrero at right forward.
Borrero made his fourth straight start after missing the opening eight games recovering from a torn ACL that he sustained last season. Borrero appeared to have reinjured the knee in a collision at Red Bulls, where he was taken off the field on a gurney during second half stoppage time.
The move was just precautionary and Borrero was back on the practice pitch at the start of the week. The other change was replacing Andrew Farrell with Spaulding at left back.
“We wanted to start with him (Borrero) because we needed a good start to the game,” said Porter. “The first 15 (minutes) I thought we were in it and we were going to win the game and he was part of that. Even down a man I thought he was dangerous.”
The Revolution’s attempt to contain Philly’s wide open north-south offense with a controlled ball possession game directed from the back end. Revolution keeper Aljaz Ivacic, who was making his third start, looked sharp when he stopped midfielder Alejandro Bedoya’s bid off the left foot from 15 feet in the 11th minute.
Carranza made use of the numerical advantage he helped create with a transition goal to make it 1-0 in the 38th minute. Midfielder Jack McGlynn led the charge down the left flank and fired an arching cross in to the penalty area. Caranaza crashed the box and headed the ball by Ivacic for his seventh of the season.
“These guys kept battling when it was an impossible task,” said Porter. “To go that long without a man, the whole game was done or thrown down the toilet after 15 minutes.”
The Union made it 2-0 on an unusual play in the 47th minute. Attacker Mikael Uhre got under a cross in the penalty area and headed the ball off the near post. Daniel Gazdag collected the rebound and booted into the exposed half of the goal for his eighth of the season. A clearly frustrated Porter picked up a yellow card in the 50th minute. Gazdag earned a brace with his second in the 80th minute.
