The New England Revolution lost 2-1 to the Montreal Impact in their season opener Saturday afternoon. The result tipped the Maple Syrup Derby in Montreal’s favor and leaves New England looking to its season opener next weekend against Chicago Fire FC for its first victory of 2020.
Here are three takeaways from the Revolution’s performance in Montreal:
Offensive sharpness slipped for Revolution after Bunbury opener
The Revolution started the game with promise, taking the lead on Teal Bunbury’s sweetly-struck drive off a 13th minute corner kick, but weren’t as clinical for the rest of the match despite outshooting the Impact 16-12.
Montreal Impact goalkeeper Clement Diop made four saves and Wilfried Zahibo had a goal disallowed for offside, but New England also struggled with making the final play in the attacking third. Diego Fagundez didn’t pull the trigger on a chance in second-half stoppage time, DeJuan Jones hit a shot from a narrow angle just before halftime despite having another runner entering the box, and Tajon Buchanan put a free header in front of an open net off the post in the second half.
The Impact scored on two of their three shots on goal. New England scored on one of its six.
“Obviously not a good result,” Revolution coach Bruce Arena said. “I think Montreal outperformed us on the field. We did poorly on the basic things, passing the ball, winning balls. Still we were in a position to maybe get something out of the game, but we were not able to.”
Understanding the Revolution starting XI rotation
New England is dealing with injuries to several starters – midfielders Carles Gil (foot) and Luis Caicedo (knee), as well as defenders Antonio Delamea (hamstring) and Seth Sinovic (hamstring) – while left back Alexander Buttner is slowly returning to full match fitness.
As such, Arena went with a makeshift starting XI and it’s reasonable to think the Revolution weren’t at full strength on their visit to Stade Olympique. That said, the starting XI featured only one true central midfielder – Scott Caldwell – and the Revs never set the tone with controlling possession. Arena substituted Caldwell off for Zahibo at halftime and it helped. Zahibo introduced physicality for the Revolution in midfield and nearly scored the team’s second goal.
Meanwhile, Fagundez had his side’s highest completed passing percentage (90 percent), but also led the team in number of times dispossessed (four) and struggled to get involved in the attack.
And Kelyn Rowe, an MLS veteran expected to help fill in as a playmaker during Gil’s absence, remained benched.
Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell the future at center back?
Rookie center back Henry Kessler performed well in preseason and Andrew Farrell earned Revolution Defender of the Year honors in 2019. Both played alongside one another Saturday night in Montreal.
On the plus side for Kessler, he led the game in interceptions and, like Farrell, accrued three blocks.
But their partnership needs work. The duo was in no-man’s land on Montreal’s equalizer, and Kessler was way behind the play on Maxi Urruti’s wonder goal that put the Impact in the lead.
Whether or not Farrell and Kessler end up as Arena’s go-to central defensive pairing remains to be seen. Antonio Delamea is waiting in the wings, Michael Mancienne is mostly a depth piece, and the club could sign another center back in the summer.