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Going into New England to take on the Revolution was going to be tough. They were the hottest team in MLS coming into the match, 4-0-2 in their last 6 matches. When the match day 18 was announced for New York though, it because much harder. The lineup featured 3 players who have not gotten regular minutes with the senior team in 2015 in Connor Lade, Sean Davis, and Karl Ouimette along with often used sub Dane Richards.
The lineup was a surprise but understood with the Red Bulls playing their 3rd match in a 7 day period. The strategy might have worked better had Jesse Marsch played the younger players on Wednesday against Colorado, but you have to go with what you have, and it didn't work well for the Red Bulls.
The Revolution employed a high pressure system to a greater effect then the Red Bulls, and the results were immediately clear. The Red Bulls were on their heels for most of the first half and conceded the match's first goal in the 9th minute to Charlie Davies.
They Revolution took a 1-0 lead into halftime and added a second in the 60th minute when the Red Bulls defense couldn't clear and Teal Bunbury beat Luis Robles with a clear shot at goal. The Red Bulls did manage to pull one back with a 73rd minute goal from Sacha Kljestan, but didn't look dangerous enough to actually draw level, resulting in their first loss in 2015.
3 Thoughts
1. Young Guns
The young players that Jesse Marsch sent out against New England looked overmatched. It's not surprising, they haven't played mush with the senior team in a real match. You can't teach that level of play and it shows. They should've been used Wednesday against Colorado, an arguably worse opponent. By not doing so, Marsch may have just lost another 3 points.
2. Turnaround
7 games in 3 days is a tough stretch. The team needs to get used to it though, they'll have a few of these kind of weeks, and they aren't forgiving.
3. Punches thrown
No, I'm not talking about Mayweather-Pacquiao. There was extracurricular activity with Abang and Jermaine Jones getting into it with hands to the face. Maybe they were talking about who would win the fight.