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The New England Revolution claimed its first road win of the season by defeating the Houston Dynamo 2-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday night. Teal Bunbury and Cristian Penilla both scored as goalkeeper Matt Turner and his back line combined to deliver the Revolution’s first clean sheet of the season.
Here are three things we learned from New England’s positive result in Houston:
1. Cristian Penilla with a standout performance
Have the Revolution found the heir to Lee Nguyen?
Cristian Penilla has been almost flawless in taking on the role of play maker through his team’s first four games this season.
He’s been dangerous as both a setup man and an out-and-out attacker in putting chances on net and has shown no signs of slowing down. On Saturday night, Penilla helped orchestrate New England’s effective counterattack game, picking up his third assist of the young season on Teal Bunbury’s goal.
Penilla then took up the scoring mantle himself. He opened his Major League Soccer scoring account in the second half against the Dynamo, firing a rocket into the roof of the net after dazzling the hosts’ defenders with a few neat step-overs and some intricate one-on-one dribbling.
New England has six goals through its first four games this season. Five are in the run of play. Penilla has had a hand in each of those run of play goals.
2. Luis Caicedo quietly puts together a stunning first start
Luis Caicedo was seamless in his first start with the Revolution, combining well with both Scott Caldwell and Wilfried Zahibo and serving as a capable intermediary between the attack and the center of the pitch.
Caicedo also recorded the first assist of his MLS career, helping set up the Bunbury goal. New England’s coach staff has alluded to Caicedo gelling with his new teammates both on and off the pitch. In his short time with the Revs, the Colombian seems keen on making an impact and already looks like a boon to the team’s counter attacking game.
“Our counterattack is pretty good as well and explosive and [Houston’s] transition from attack to defense is a little slower than when they go the other way,” said New England head coach Brad Friedel. “So, we were hoping that we would be able to catch them on one or two breaks, and we did. In the first half, in the first half especially we were in an immense amount of pressure, especially in the first 15 minutes.”
In addition to being part of the Revolution’s well-worked counter attack, Caicedo finished the game with the second-highest completed passing percentage (86 percent) on the team.
3. Well-played by GK Matt Turner and his back line
New England had some nervy moments in the first 10 minutes, though newly-minted starting goalkeeper Matt Turner was alert and on his game to keep the Revolution from slumping into an early hole.
The Revolution were clearly helped by the DaMarcus Beasley red card, but the Dynamo nevertheless persisted in creating chances and did not let up until Penilla bagged the second goal.
In saying that, the back line was relatively well-organized for most of the night; What Gabriel Somi sometimes lacked in passing outside the back he made up for in pace, while Andrew Farrell had the highest passing accuracy (87 percent) of any player on the Revolution.
Jalil Anibaba and Claude Dielna had some questionable moments at the back, but Turner was up to the task every time his defenders let something through.
Turner finished the game with six saves and his first career clean sheet. His back line did enough to help him preserve it – though clearly there are still some areas that need to be improved.