A match between the two top teams in the Eastern Conference, FC Cincinnati and the New England Revolution, was played to a 1-1 draw, as the referee played a major role in the scoreline.
Both sides looked up for the match from the start. FCC seemed to have the majority of the possession from the jump, and did get some attempts on goal, but nothing clear-cut was had from the visitors.
This was the same from the home side for the beginning stages of the match. New England had some good possession in the final third, and played the ball in tight spaces well, but didn’t see anything too scintillating early.
The match was unfortunately stopped for an extended amount of time when Dylan Borrero went down with what looked like a significant injury.
Following this injury, the matchup appeared to heat up, with both teams getting their passing going and the stars, Carles Gil and Lucho Acosta, coming out with their wonderful flight of passing skills.
Alvaro Barreal, however, was the one that sent in the pass that opened the door for the visitors first, as he hit a beautiful corner kick to Yerson Mosquera who hit it home.
After the goal, both sides seemed to find their touch, with the match becoming end-to-end and the defenses required to be at their best.
NE was able to equalize in the extended stoppage time, as Barreal misplayed a ball in the air, which Brandon Bye then picked up and played to Emmanuel Boateng for the goal.
Neither side appeared done, either, as both sides had great attempts prior to the end of the half, with a shot from Santos at the six-yard line going straight at Dorde Petrovic.
The second half was, unfortunately, much less interesting.
For nearly the first 20 minutes, neither side really didn’t have much going. It seemed like they weren’t really up for it anymore, and the weather, which had turned into a downpour, might have been to blame.
However, that changed around 20 minutes into it, as it appeared that Andrew Farrell nipped at Acosta and took him down. the referee originally called a penalty kick, but then took it back and allowed a goal kick. The play then went to VAR and the referee again decided against a penalty.
Following this sequence, the affair did start to get better but it didn’t have the same end-to-end feeling to it, with New England grabbing the majority of the chances. The home side looked the more likely to score for much of the remainder.
However, neither side was able to do so, and what could have been one of the best matches of the season was headlined by a decision by the referee.
Match 10 – New England Revolution vs FC Cincinnati
Gilette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Attendance: 30,080
Result: New England Revolution 1, FC Cincinnati 1
BOX SCORE
FC Cincinnati Starting XI:
Roman Celentano, Álvaro Barreal, Yerson Mosquera, Matt Miazga, Nick Hagglund, Ray Gaddis (Alvas Powell 84′), Junior Moreno, Obinna Nwobodo (Malik Pinto 90′), Luciano Acosta (C), Brandon Vazquez (Dominique Badji 90′), Sergio Santos (Yuya Kubo 71′)
Bench: Alec Kann, Joey Akpunonu, Marco Angulo, Arquimides Ordoñez, Ian Murphy
New England Revolution Starting XI
Djordje Petrovic, Dave Romney, Brandon Bye, DeJuan Jones, Andrew Farrell, Matthew Polter, Carles Gil (C), Emmanuel Boateng, Noel Buck, Dylan Borrero (Esmir Bajraktarevic 22’, Gustavo Bou 69′), Justin Rennicks (Bobby Wood 69′)
Bench: Omar Gonzalez, Christian Makoun, Joshua Bolma, Jack Panayotou, Earl Edwards Jr., Ben Sweat
Discipline:
CIN – Matt Miazga 12’
CIN – Álvaro Barreal 33’
CIN – Sergio Santos 45’+9’
NE – Bobby Wood 89’
Next up:
vs D.C. United, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, TQL Stadium (Cincinnati, Ohio)