Bye, Buksa net goals for New England as Gil logs two assists
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The New England Revolution (2-5-1; 7 pts.) fell to D.C. United (3-4-0; 9 pts.), 3-2, on Saturday night at Audi Field. Defender Brandon Bye netted the opening goal six minutes into the match on a right-footed shot from outside the box with assists from midfielders Carles Gil and Emmanuel Boateng. Forward Adam Buksa added a goal for New England with a header in the 86th minute on Gil’s second assist of the night. Midfielder Taxiarchis Fountas guided the visitors with two goals and one assist.
Bye’s goal was his second tally of the season, matching a career high through just six appearances for the defender in 2022. Gil logged his first two-assist performance of the season and the ninth of his Revolution career in all competitions. Boateng also registered an assist on Bye’s goal, his first helper of 2022, as he surpassed 7,000 career minutes played.
Buksa netted his second goal of the season with his headed finish, giving him two goals in MLS play and four in all competitions. The Poland National Team forward leads all MLS players with 11 headed goals since the start of 2020. Buksa registered his 60th appearance in MLS tonight and finished the match with a game-high eight shots. On the defensive end, Andrew Farrell became the second player in club history to record 300 starts in a New England uniform, as he tied Shalrie Joseph (305) for the most appearances in all competitions.
The Revolution return home to Foxborough next weekend to host Inter Miami CF on Saturday, April 30. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium and airs on WBZ CBS Boston, myRITV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and 1260 AM Nossa Radio in Portuguese. CBS Boston’s pregame coverage begins with “Revolution Kickoff” at 7:00 pm. ET.
POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 2, D.C. United 3
April 23, 2022 – Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)
- Brandon Bye netted his second goal, matching the defender’s career-high in just his sixth appearance of the season. Bye tallied four shots tonight, two on target.
- Carles Gil collected his second and third assists of the MLS season. The Spanish midfielder now owns 37 assists in his MLS career, surpassing Joe-Max Moore for sixth most on New England’s all-time list.
- Gil notched his seventh multi-assist performance in MLS, and his ninth in all competitions.
- Gil finished tonight’s match with a game-high seven chances created and four fouls won, in addition to his two assists.
- Emmanuel Boateng logged his first assist of the season and surpassed 7,000 career minutes played in MLS. The midfielder now owns three goals and five assists over 18 appearances in league play for the Revolution.
- Adam Buksa netted his second goal of the season, his fourth across all competitions in 2022, and registered his 60th MLS appearance tonight. The Polish striker finished tonight’s match with a game-high eight shots.
- Buksa now has 11 headed goals in the MLS regular season and playoffs, most in MLS since he entered the league in 2020.
- Andrew Farrell became the second player in club history to register 300 starts across all competitions, joining Matt Reis. The veteran defender also matched the club record for appearances across all competitions, equaling Shalrie Joseph (305). Farrell led New England’s defense with 10 possessions gained, four tackles, and two interceptions.
- Revolution Homegrown Player Damian Rivera appeared off the bench in tonight’s content. The Cranston, R.I. native completed 10 of his 14 pass attempts and registered one shot on target in a 32-minute performance.
- Tonight’s Starting XI featured no changes from last Saturday’s match against Charlotte FC, marking the first time this season that Bruce Arena deployed the same starting lineup for consecutive matches.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Marcos DeOliveira
Assistant Referees: Gianni Facchini (AR1), Tyler Wyrostek (AR2)
Fourth Official: Elvis Osmanovic
Video Assistant Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Craig Lowry
Weather: 71 degrees and sunny
Scoring Summary:
NE- Brandon Bye 2 (Carles Gil 2, Emmanuel Boateng 1) 6’
DC- Taxiarchis Fountas 1 (unassisted) 26’
DC- Michael Estrada 3 (Taxiarchis Fountas 1) 39’
NE- Adam Buksa 2 (Carles Gil 2) 86’
Misconduct Summary:
DC- Julian Gressel (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 33’
NE- DeJuan Jones (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 65’
NE- Adam Buksa (Yellow Card- Argument) 87’
NE- Henry Kessler (Yellow Card- Dissent) 89’
New England Revolution: Brad Knighton; Brandon Bye, Andrew Farrell, DeJuan Jones, Omar Gonzalez (Henry Kessler 46’); Matt Polster, Emmanuel Boateng (Damian Rivera 58’), Carles Gil ©, Sebastian Lletget (Tommy McNamara 75’); Adam Buksa, Justin Rennicks (Jozy Altidore 58’)
Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Noel Buck, A.J. DeLaGarza, Wilfrid Kaptoum, Arnór Traustason
D.C. United: Jon Kempin; Brendan Hines-Ike, Brad Smith (Ted Ku-DiPietro 83’), Steve Birnbaum ©, Donovan Pines; Russell Canouse, Chris Durkin, Edison Flores (Drew Skundrich 79’), Julian Gressel; Michael Estrada (Nigel Robertha 60’, Jose Alfaro 83’), Taxiarchis Fountas (Jackson Hopkins 60’)
Substitutes Not Used: Luis Zamudio, Sofianne Djeffal, Griffin Yow
| D.C. United | Team Statistics | New England Revolution |
| 11 (5) | Shots (on Target) | 21 (9) |
| 4 | Blocked Shots | 3 |
| 1.57 | Expected Goals (xG) | 2.49 |
| 7 | Saves | 2 |
| 0 | Corner Kicks | 5 |
| 1 | Offsides | 2 |
| 11 | Fouls | 10 |
| (%) | Passes Attempted (% Completed) | (%) |
| 32% | Possession | 68% |
POSTGAME QUOTES: New England Revolution 2 at D.C. United 3
CLICK HERE for matchday media assets including photos, highlights, and postgame interview footage.
Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena
On the first half of the match and what led to the defensive breakdowns:
Arena: “Well, there were clearly some individual mistakes. I think on two of the goals, we turned the ball over, probably in the middle third of the field. We made some technical mistakes, clearing the ball, I think, on the first goal. [On the] second goal, we did a terrible job dealing with the player in front of the goal. Give them credit. Good cross, have to finish it, but really poor marking on our part. The third goal, again, I think we turned the ball over. One on one in the penalty area, they get the shot off and our goalkeeper is not able to save the ball. So, down 3-1 in a half where we really didn’t play that bad. But, boy, we made some really poor mistakes and they cost us dearly. And again, we’ve conceded an awful lot of goals and just some really poor play. So, you know, we deserve to lose the game. We fought hard in the second half, tried to get the equalizer at the end. The game became a bit of a circus with time wasting and everything else, but we put ourselves in that position. You know, we can’t point the finger at the referee, because the whole thing was a mess with them going down, I think it was three or four guys they checked for concussions or whatever and the time wasting and all of that. But we put ourselves in position for that, so we have no reason to use that as an excuse.”
On defender Brandon Bye contributing to the attack with a goal tonight:
Arena: “Certainly, it’s important for any player to score a goal and especially an outside back. I thought there was some good combination play and give Brandon [Bye] credit. It was a very good finish.”
On Carles Gil’s performance and what he was saying to the Revolution bench at the closing moments of the second half:
Arena: “Well, that’s between us. Just talking about some things on the field that we need to get better, obviously. And he needs to communicate with some of the players. But, Carles [Gil] played a good game. Obviously, he’s a guy with a bullseye on his back and teams put a lot of attention on him and it’s not easy. We need other players around him to step up a little bit more, to take a little bit of pressure off Carles.”
On the early season struggles and if additions need to be made to the roster:
Arena: “Well, playing better is a starting point. I mean, there’s too many crucial mistakes being made that have cost us games. And made by players, that’s our 11 almost every game. So, you can’t just blame it on injuries, but we do have two players that are going to come in and help us, I believe. We just have to get healthier, obviously, get our new payers adjusted to our team, and play better. You know, at the end of the day, if we played a little bit better today, I don’t think we walk off the field losing the game.”
Revolution Midfielder Matt Polster
On tonight’s performance and what led to the first half breakdowns:
Polster: “Yeah, I thought the first, whatever it was, 20 minutes, we looked really good and in control of the game, 1-0 up or whatever it was. And once again, kind of individual mistakes, even myself. I missed a pass in the middle of the field, and we don’t get back quickly enough as a team. Or we do and we don’t defend the cross and whatnot. So, I think it’s just, again, individual mistakes and not being focused for a full ninety minutes, which is what we did against Charlotte, and we weren’t able to do it tonight.”
On how frustrating the match was after playing so well early and going up one to nil:
Polster: “Yeah, I think the whole season has kind of been frustrating. We’ve been giving up a lot of goals and that’s just not us from last year. Even though, at times, we would win games 3-2, but for the most part, we were pretty good defensively and even when guys made mistakes, other guys would step up and make up for that. So, I think this year, we’re lacking a little bit in those areas and it is a bit frustrating because I think we’ve played a pretty good game. Obviously, I think the last fifteen minutes, they’re just trying to keep the lead and whatnot. So, that’s a little bit titled, but for the most part, I thought we were better than them. But at the end of the day, they have three points and we don’t.”
On the emotions of the locker room right now:
Polster: “I think the emotion was just the fact that the referee wasn’t really pushing the game quick enough for us. I think they were delaying the game in parts, where I thought the referee could’ve nudged them along a little bit more. At the end of the day, he didn’t. We still had eight minutes of extra time. We could’ve easily pushed the game and we could’ve easily gotten a third goal. I think the frustration is just building from not consistently playing well week in and week out. I think we’re playing a really good game and then we’re not playing such a good game. And we’re playing a good game and not such a good game. So, we need to get back to what we were doing last year, where our not so good game was at least getting us a point. This year, it seems to be the opposite, where we’re dropping points consistently and that’s not good enough because I know what this group is capable of. We have way too much talent in that locker room. And those guys are upset, as they should be. Like I said, I think we’re way too talented to be where we’re at. It is what it is. We just need to move past this as quick as possible and focus on Miami.”
Revolution Midfielder Damian Rivera
On his mindset in the second half of tonight’s match:
Rivera: “Yeah, coming on in the second half, I thought we created enough chances to come back in the game. I thought if we weren’t fighting for the game back, I thought we would’ve come away with the victory.”
On moving forward after tonight’s loss:
Rivera: “Yeah, I mean, a loss on the road definitely hurts us. You know, it’s not the first this year. I think we just have to keep our heads down and keep working hard, and we get to prove ourselves again next week.”
On the mood in the locker room following tonight’s loss:
Rivera: “Obviously, guys are upset. In the locker room, it’s not too exciting in there. But, you know, guys, we blame ourselves and stuff but I think we just have to keep going and we have to keep proving ourselves.”
On how to deal with frustrating moments and results:
Rivera: “You can take frustration into the game as making tackles and things like that. But, you know, I think for us, we have to take that frustration and take it into the next game in a positive way. And I think if we do, that it’ll be a different result next week.”
