The New England Revolution opened their preseason slate in Marbella, Spain on Thursday morning, playing to a scoreless draw against Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua.
New signing Carles Gil did not feature in the match as Revs head coach Brad Friedel put his team in a 4-4-2 formation throughout.
Cristian Penilla produced a pair of dangerous chances for New England in the first half. In the 23rd minute, his right-footed shot took a deflection and curled over the bar, and a low drive in the 28th minute was saved. Brad Knighton kept Shanghai off the scoreboard just before halftime with a diving save to his right on a long-range effort.
In the second frame, Teal Bunbury and Juan Fernando Caicedo led the attack and combined for a pair of quality chances in the 49th and 53rd minutes, respectively. Matt Turner preserved the shutout with a crucial kick save in the 84th minute, before the Revs nearly bagged a winner in the final moments as Tajon Buchanan fired a curling shot, but Shanghai Shenhua’s goalkeeper forced the attempt off the crossbar.
“I thought it was good. They’re on their fifth game of preseason, that’s our first, so they were ahead of us on fitness, but I think we looked probably the stronger of the two teams, definitely at the end of the second half," Friedel said after the match. "It was good. Just as I said, the first two days are going to be a mix. We’re just going to try to open it up and have some competition, and some pleasing signs.”
First half lineup (4-4-2, L-R): Brad Knighton (GK); Gabriel Somi, Jalil Anibaba, Andrew Farrell, Tyler Freitas (Academy); Cristian Penilla, Wilfried Zahibo, Scott Caldwell, DeJuan Jones (Draft pick); Brian Wright, Diego Fagundez
Second half lineup (4-4-2, L-R): Matt Turner (GK); Edgar Castillo, Michael Mancienne, Antonio Mlinar Delamea, Brandon Bye; Tajon Buchanan, Isaac Angking, Zachary Herivaux, Justin Rennicks; Juan Fernando Caicedo, Teal Bunbury
