FOXBORO — The New England Revolution regained sole possession of second place in the MLS Eastern Conference with a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls before 16,444 fans on Wednesday night at Gillette.
The Revolution (13-0-7) played the second of three games in eight days, a tough stretch that concludes Saturday night (7:30) with a home match against Austin FC. The Revolution remain unbeaten at Gillette with a 10-0-3 mark, the best home start to a season in club history.
Interim head coach Richie Williams picked up his first MLS win since replacing Bruce Arena on Aug. 1. Arena remains on indefinite administrative leave pending an investigation by MLS for making “insensitive and inappropriate remarks.”
“Not an easy game but we got the goal we needed and created some more opportunities,” said Williams. “It is always great to be at home with your fans in your stadium and getting the support from them to help you along the way and keeping that record going.”
Goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr., who replaced Britain-bound Djordje Petrovic on a full-time basis, was credited with his second win and first clean sheet of the season.
“They all defended as a group and it was nice for everyone to get a shutout,” said Williams. “Earl has been really solid for us with Djordje leaving and he has filled in really nicely for us.”
In order to minimize the wear and tear from the congested slate of games, Williams made several alterations to the starting lineup that suffered an 11th-hour 1-0 setback at CF Montreal on Aug. 26. Williams reversed back to a dual strikers’ formation, pairing Giacomo Vrioni with Tomas Chancalay, who started in place of the injured Gustavo Bou.
Ben Sweat started at right back in place of DeJuan Jones, while midfielder Matt Polster replaced Ryan Spauling at left back. Nacho Gil made his first start in the midfield.
Both teams employed a tight possession game through the opening 20 minutes and the few breakouts by either camp that did transpire were sufficiently snuffed by the backs in the penalty areas.
The Revs produced a strong scoring opportunity of the half in the 25th minute when Chancalay set up Polster with an uncontested shot from 12 yards. Polster uploaded a missile that bounced off the crossbar and into the stratosphere.
The Revolution went up 1-0 in the 30th minute on Vrioni’s sixth of the season. Mark-Anthoy Kaye connected with Vrioni on a deep clear down the left flank. Vrioni got behind the defender, closed on the cage and beat NYRB keeper Carlos Coronel to the far post.
“Mark put the ball in there and Giacomo worked really hard to make a run and he has the ability to score a goal,” said Williams. “The Red Bulls, the way they play, they make it difficult for you and they are super intense.”
Williams made a massive substitution in the 66th minute to revitalize the Revs’ stagnant attack. Noel Buck, Bobby Wood and Emmanuel Boateng joined the fray in place of Vrioni, Chancalay and Gil.