Lee Nguyen scores goal in season finale to get New England Revolution into the playoffs

 

NEW YORK CITY – The New England Revolution closed out the 2015 regular season with a 3-1 win over New York City FC on Sunday evening at Yankee Stadium. Lee Nguyen, Charlie Davies and Kelyn Rowe each scored for the Revs who clinched a berth in the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs with the win. New England will now face D.C. United on the road in the single-game Knockout Round on Wednesday night at RFK Stadium with the winner advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals which start next weekend.

It took just two minutes for New England to go in front as Nguyen scored his seventh goal of the season. A Jermaine Jones free kick found the feet of Nguyen who quickly played a pass forward to Charlie Davies. Davies played the ball straight back to Nguyen inside the box and he cut past one defender before slotting a right-footed shot underneath New York City goalkeeper Josh Saunders to give the Revs and early 1-0 lead.

Following the early goal, both sides pushed numbers forward. In the eighth minute, Teal Bunbury fired over the bar for the Revs while Frank Lampard hit a shot into the side netting from close range in the 14th minute for NYC FC, who had already been eliminated from playoff contention heading into the day. In the 37th minute, New York City defender Chris Wingert had a pair of chances but he was denied on each occasion by Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.

Less than a minute after Shuttleworth’s saves on Wingert, Davies got on the end of a long ball from Jose Goncalves to score his 10th goal of the season. Goncalves played a long, left-footed pass over the top of the New York City defense for Davies, who shrugged off the challenge of Jason Hernandez at the top of the box and then hit a left-footed shot that beat Saunders inside the far post, making the score 2-0.

Frank Lampard hit the crossbar shortly after the Davies goal and Shuttleworth was forced to save a low free kick from Andrea Pirlo, but the score would stay 2-0 in favor of the Revolution heading into the halftime break.

Ten minutes into the second half, the Revs extended their lead with Kelyn Rowe flicking a near post header past Saunders from a Chris Tierney corner kick, making the score 3-0 in favor of New England. This was the first time this season that the Revs had scored three times in a road game all season long.

The home side pulled back a goal in second-half stoppage time as David Villa converted penalty kick, placing his shot low, past the dive of Shuttleworth, after Revolution midfielder Daigo Kobayashi had been called for a handball inside the box, making the final score 3-1 in favor of New England.

Santander Man of the Match

CHARLIE DAVIES – Returned to the starting lineup and had a goal and an assist for the Revs, setting up Lee Nguyen’s 2nd minute opener and then scoring the eventual game-winner in the 38th minute. He finished with a team-high four shots, three of which were on goal.

Next Game

The Revolution will open the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night when they travel to face D.C. United at RFK Stadium. The broadcast details for that game will be announced later tonight with the winner advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals where they will face either the New York Red Bulls or Columbus Crew SC.

New England Revolution at New York City FC

October 25, 2015 – Yankee Stadium (New York City, N.Y.)

New England Revolution 3, New York City FC 1

Scoring Summary:

NE – Lee Nguyen 7 (Charlie Davies 4) 2’

NE – Charlie Davies 10 (Jose Goncalves 2) 38’

NE – Kelyn Rowe 7 (Chris Tierney 6) 55’

NYC – David Villa 18 (Penalty Kick) 91+

Misconduct Summary:

NYC – Kwame Watson-Siriboe (Yellow Card) 77’

NYC – Tommy McNamara (Yellow Card) 86’

NE – Diego Fagundez (Yellow Card) 88’

New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth; London Woodberry (Kevin Alston 46+), Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney; Scott Caldwell, Jermaine Jones © (Daigo Kobayashi 67’); Teal Bunbury, Lee Nguyen (Diego Fagundez 75’), Kelyn Rowe; Charlie Davies.

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Steve Neumann, Andy Dorman, Juan Agudelo

STATS: Shots 12, Shots on target 5, Saves 5, Corner kicks 7, Offsides 1, Fouls 7, Possession 38.5%, Passes 329 (68.4%)

New York City FC: Josh Saunders; R.J. Allen, Shay Facey (Kwame Watson-Siriboe 46’), Jason Hernandez, Chris Wingert; Andrew Jacobson, Andrea Pirlo (Patrick Mullins 74’); Khiry Shelton (Kwando Poku 56’), Frank Lampard, Thomas McNamara; David Villa ©.

Substitutes Not Used: Ryan Meara, Angelino, Sebastian Velasquez, Mehdi Ballouchy.

STATS: Shots 19, Shots on target 6, Saves 2, Corner kicks 7, Offsides 0, Fouls 12, Possession 61.5%, Passes 523 (80.7%)

Referee: Jair Marrufo

Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell and Adam Garner

Fourth Official: Jorge Gonzalez

Weather: Cloudy and 68 degrees

Attendance: 34,150

Team Records:

New England Revolution: 14-12-8, 50 pts.

New York City FC: 10-17-7, 37 pts.

via Revs Clinch Playoff Spot with Win Over NYC – ABC6 – Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather.