By Jonathan Burgos –
The New England Revolution battle tonight against FC Cincinnati in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Gillette stadium in Foxboro, kickoff 7PM ET. Tonight is a special matchup as the assistant Head coach Kenny Arena for FC Cincinnati is the son of Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena of the New England Revolution. The last time the Revolution competed in the U.S. Cup Open was back in 2019, New England has reached the tournament final on three occasions, winning the Open Cup in 2007. This is also the first time Revolution has hosted a U.S. Cup match at Gillette Stadium for the first time since August, 9th, 2016, when New England defeated the Chicago Fire, 3-1, in the semifinal.
Kick off is under way in Foxboro, both teams had a slow start trying to find that opening they need to get a shot on goal. Referee Lukasz Szpala has issues a yellow card to #17 Henry Kessler in the 10 min of the first half. In the 21 min Midfielder Alvaro Barreal strikes to put FC on the board first. The goal was assisted by Midfielder Haris Medunjanin. New England looks defeated in the attacking game and needs to play more physically. In the 24 min referee has issued a yellow card to Defense Zico Bailey of FC. The referee has issued a free kick to New England, Traustaston was taking down Carles Gil for the attempt. Gil converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom left corner to notch it 1-1 in the 31 min. In the 37 min captain Midfielder Gil strikes again to give New England the lead 2-1. At the end of the first half the score was New England 2, FC 1.
Start of the second half is underway and immediately New England gets in the attack zone (assisted) by Brandon bye with a cross to Adam Buska for the header from the center of the box to the top right corner for the Goal in the 47 min. Revolution lead it 3-1. New England is in the attacking formation again Brandon Bye passes to Gil for the shot attempt and scores again to make it 3 on the night for him in the scoring books. Time of the goal 53 min. Back to back goals for New England as #9 Adam Buska strikes in the 57 min to give the Revs a 5-1 lead, that makes two on the night for Buska assisted by Carles Gil. Time is called as a injured FC player is down on the pitch, medical staff coming out to check him out.
New England Revolution Notch a pair of 5 goals for the final score of game 1 of a 32 round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Cup Open. Carles Gil and Adam Buska had a multi-goal night with Gil scoring a hat trick, and Buska scoring two.
During the post game press conference Revolution Midfielder Carles Gil was asked about scoring five goals in tonight’s win and he said, “Yeah, I think we didn’t have a good first 30 minutes. We were a little bit slow and we didn’t win some tackles but I think after the first goal, we started to play well, win tackles, and the first 15-20 minutes in the second half were very good. I think we had chances, that is the difference. Sometimes we have good chances, and we miss. Today, I think we were very good at those things. Yeah, five goals, I think we needed a win like this.”
When asked about the value of having the lead in the second half and the ability to make multiple substitutions to manage minutes, Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena said “We’re fortunate that we’re playing Sunday and they’re playing Saturday. So, they had to be a little bit more concerned about that team and being rested because they had to travel and then they have t go to Chicago. We had a little bit of an advantage there. And to be able to get Carles [Gil] and [Adam] Buksa and Henry [Kessler], who had a yellow card, off the field with Tommy [McNamara], who’s played a lot of minutes and DeJuan [Jones], it was important. I think it was a good 60 minutes for a bunch of those guys and we’re able to give them a little bit of rest. And you know, we should be pretty fresh for the game on Sunday.”
Revolution Midfielder Arnór Traustason during the post game press conference was asked about the team’s struggles in closing out games and said, “Yeah, it’s like I [mentioned] earlier. The games we’ve been losing points and losing games in the last minutes, that didn’t happen last year. We kind of closed out games and it was not like we were winning games last year with four goals. It was always tight, and we never conceded these last-minute goals that kind of, I mean, it kills the [momentum]. In the dressing room, it gets heavy. We kind of know when we wanted those three points. We wanted that point, but still, we receive nothing. When you put in and give 100% and you receive nothing, it’s kind of draining and it’s been happening now a couple of games in a row. So, I mean, I think that’s the difference. I think the momentum, building the momentum, and hopefully we can build up from here.”
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