HARRISON, N.J. – Sports Illustrated Stadium continues to be a house of horrors for the New England Revolution, which had its 2-0 lead evaporate in a second half meltdown on Wednesday night against the New York Red Bulls.
The Red Bulls (9-8-6, 33 points) emerged victorious, 5-3, riding a pair of braces by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Emil Forsberg, as the Revolution’s winless run reached seven games.
New England is now 1-14-2 across all competitions at the facility, which opened in 2010 and formerly went by the name Red Bull Arena. To add further intrigue, former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, led the Red Bulls onto the field before the game as the hosts’ weekly celebrity guest.
It started so well for the Revolution (6-9-7, 25 points) on this hot and sticky night.
Leonardo Campana opened the scoring in the fifth minute with his third goal of the season — and first since May 3. The ball fell his way near the top of the penalty area following a fast break. Alhassan Yusuf started the play with a long pass forward to meet the run of Peyton MIller, whose attempted layoff to Luca Langoni deflected off New York defender Noah Eile and toward an open Campana. Campana took control of the loose ball, then calmly rolled a low drive past New York goalkeeper Carlos Coronel.
Campana appeared to double the Revolution’s advantage 16 minutes later after he poked in another loose ball off a corner kick, but the tally was annulled by match referee Sergio Boiko after a brief VAR check.
The Revolution eventually doubled their lead, Langoni’s shot from inside the penalty area off Carles Gil’s feed slamming off the post before ricocheting in off defender Kyle Duncan’s chest from close to point-blank range.
“We need to be better at putting together a complete performance,” Revolution head coach Caleb Porter said. “It’s that simple. I was happy with the attack today, and I was happy with everything in the first 30-35 minutes. It was one of our best starts of the year. We played some amazing soccer. But then I just don’t understand why we stopped doing that. It wasn’t because we tactically decided to stop playing that way.”
But the dynamics began to change near halftime. The Revolution faced two heart-in-mouth moments, as goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic coughed up possession in the box with an errant back pass straight to Ronald Donkor in the 36th minute, eventually dropping low to stop a point-blank effort from a wide-open Daniel Edelman. Forsberg volleyed over the crossbar six minutes later.
The Red Bulls ramped up pressure in the second half, with Donkor and Edelman combining to finally break through. Donkor laid off a poorly-cleared cross to the top of the area for Edelman, whose one-time shot deflected off New England’s Keegan Hughes before nestling in the back of the net.
“The first goal was a tough one — it was a direct ball into the middle, and they started driving at us,” Porter said. “We missed a clearance, and they got a deflected shot at the top of the box. It wasn’t a clean goal; it came from us being pinned back … it’s the worst time to give away a goal, when you’re up 2-0.”
Choupo-Moting tied the game with his 12th goal of the season in the 70th minute, finishing off a Forsberg’s layoff. The Red Bulls took the lead in the 72nd minute as Forsberg finally broke through with a right-footed cannon from outside the box that flew in past and outstretched Ivacic.
Choupo-Moting recorded his brace in the 83rd minute, tucking in Donkor’s feed from the right side of the box. Boiko awarded a penalty kick to the Red Bulls in the 86th minute, as Hughes brought down Julian Hall in the box. Forsberg converted the ensuing spot kick, firing to the left side of the net to beat Ivacic once again.
“At halftime, we talked about what we needed to do in the second half, but we didn’t execute any of it,” said Revolution defender Wyatt Omsberg, who came on as a second half substitute. “I think we just made it too easy for them. We gave them too much space, and they capitalized on a lot of their chances.”
Campana recorded a consolation goal in the third minute of second half stoppage time, but the bid for the Revolution to re-establish came too late.
“We’re angry,” Campana said. “We don’t deserve this. I think we had the game under control, but in the second half, we made some dumb decisions. Everyone, starting from me — even though I scored two goals — we all have our part in this.”
Wednesday night’s contest marked the most goals the Revolution have conceded in a game this year, and the most they’ve conceded since falling 6-2 to Inter Miami CF in last year’s season finale.
The Revolution play six of their next eight games — including each of their next four — at Gillette Stadium, starting this Saturday against Orlando City SC.
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