Bruce Arena wasn’t particularly pleased with the result. He did concede, however, a couple of his family members might be.
“I spoke to my wife and grandson today and they were all hoping that it would be a draw,” the New England Revolution’s head coach said after his side’s Saturday night 1-1 draw with FC Cincinnati, where his son Kenny is a member of Pat Noonan’s technical staff.
“So everyone goes home happy, I guess, right? Except for the coaches.”
Happiness wasn’t really the vibe at Gillette Stadium as the two teams topping both the Supporters’ Shield and Eastern Conference standings locked horns in a ferociously intense affair brimming with commitment, controversy and flaring tempers.
Sizing one another up like prizefighters who expect to face off again with hardware on the line at some point, FCC and the Revs combined for 26 fouls, 23 shots, two contentious penalty kicks – one saved, the other waved off by a Video Review decision – and 4.5 expected goals as an appreciative crowd of 30,080 roared them on.
“The crowd, I think, was into it. They certainly helped in it feeling like a game of some magnitude,” said Noonan afterwards. “It's two good teams early on in the season that are at the top of the table and trying to go out and compete in a way where you try to create a little separation and stay at the top.”
Djordje Petrovic bolstered his case for being the league’s top goalkeeper by saving Lucho Acosta’s early penalty kick – the fifth such stop of his fledgling MLS career – only for Cincy to quickly respond with a corner-kick header from Yerson Mosquera. The Revs got off the canvas quickly, however, leveling via an attractive move finished by Ema Boateng on the stroke of halftime.
“It had kind of a playoff atmosphere. Everybody knew it was going to be a big game,” said Revolution defender Dave Romney. “So yeah, I don't know. We definitely turned it on after they scored a goal. I think we had a very good reaction to getting scored on, which is a positive sign.”
As the Arena family ties suggest, this is a fixture with some familiarity to it: Noonan began his professional playing career with New England and later played for and coached under Arena with the LA Galaxy and US men’s national team. Both coaches would surely have loved a statement win here, and the game’s edgy tenor reflected it.
“Hard-fought game, very physical game,” said Arena. “I think the first 10 minutes of the game, they dominated us physically. We didn't adjust too well to it, it took us a little time. I think it took the referee a little time as well to sort that stuff up.”
Both coaches were critical of their own team’s lack of precision as well as referee Alex Chilowicz’s handling of the rough-and-tumble occasion.
Arena and his fellow Revs were dismayed to see talented young winger Dylan Borrero carted off the pitch in tears with what Arena believes is “a serious knee injury” after a heavy slide tackle from Mosquera. Later, the visitors were galled to see a chance at a late winner waved off by Chilowicz dismissing Andrew Farrell's challenge against Acosta in New England’s box.
“A little bit of a chaotic game, good energy, a lot of emotion,” said Noonan. “But I think it was just chaotic and out of control because it was so poorly officiated.
“I don't think it was the determining factor in the final result, but it affects the players when you got an official sprinting up to guys to give them a yellow card. It’s smiling at people that are talking to him – there's nothing funny, guys are competing. This isn't a joke. So it affects the game and I give credit to the players on both sides because I think guys tried to battle through it.”
As he has after a few previous results this spring, even good ones, Noonan rued his team’s imperfections in possession and on the attack. Yet this night also showed how and why Cincy can menace even when they’re well short of full flow.
“They're a big and physical team,” said Romney. “Set pieces were definitely our biggest weakness tonight. They had five guys who pretty much could have attacked the ball. I mean, their three center backs come up and then \[Sergio\] Santos and \[Brandon\] Vazquez up there as well. So they're a very dominant team on set pieces, and unfortunately, we weren't good enough, I wasn't good enough on them tonight.
“Besides that, it just kind of reminded me of college soccer, which is kind of just lump it long and hopefully something happens in your way … after probably the 30th minute, I think we were starting to win more second balls and stuff like that, and that's just huge in those types of games.”
Saturday’s results mean New England and Cincinnati are currently three points clear atop the East. They’ll meet again on July 1 at TQL Stadium (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass). And based on this showdown in Foxborough, plenty of onlookers would eagerly anticipate a third renewal of hostilities come postseason.
