MLS New England Revolution

Revolution and Nashville SC Play to 0-0 Draw

Published on August 4, 2021 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution (11-3-4; 37 pts.) and Nashville SC (6-1-10; 28 pts.) played to a scoreless draw at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night. New England extends its unbeaten run to five games with the draw, which is the club's second-longest undefeated streak of the season. The Revolution will look to match their season-best unbeaten run of six games on Sunday, when the club hosts the Philadelphia Union at 6:00 p.m. ET.

With the result, New England remains on top of the Supporters' Shield and Eastern Conference tables through 18 games. The Revolution were on the front foot for much of the night as the hosts finished the evening with a season-high 68.8 percent of the possession. New England generated several quality chances and outshot Nashville with six shots on target to the visitors' two. The Revs attempted a total of 645 passes on the evening - the club's most in a single game in the last decade - but were forced to settle for the point at home.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner, midfielder Tajon Buchanan, and defender Henry Kessler all returned to the starting lineup after featuring for their respective nations in the Concacaf Gold Cup. Turner and Kessler played 90 minutes in tonight's shutout after helping the U.S. Men's National Team lift the Gold Cup trophy on Sunday night. Including his most recent stint with the national team, Turner has logged clean sheets in six of his last seven starts. Buchanan registered three shots and two on target in tonight's match, his first with the Revs since featuring for Canada at the Gold Cup. Turner and Buchanan were both named to the Concacaf Gold Cup Best XI for their performances in the continental championship.

Defender Andrew Farrell registered his 254th league start in tonight's contest, tying Shalrie Joseph for the most regular season starts in a Revolution uniform. He will take sole possession of first place with his next selection to the starting lineup. Farrell, 29, also made his 257th appearance for the Revolution tonight. He is now five appearances away from breaking the team's all-time games played record of 261, which is jointly held by Joseph and Diego Fagundez.

New England returns to action on Sunday, Aug. 8, when the club hosts the Philadelphia Union at Gillette Stadium. The 6:00 p.m. ET match will air locally on WSBK-TV38, myRITV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and WBIX 1260 AM Nossa Radio.

POSTGAME NOTES

New England Revolution 0, Nashville SC 0

August 4, 2021 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

The New England Revolution played to a 0-0 draw with Nashville SC on Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium, moving their record to 11-3-4 (37 points) on the season.

The Revs extended their unbeaten streak to five matches (4-0-1), one game shy of their season-long unbeaten streak of six games.

The Revolution's home record this season moves to 6-1-1 (.813). The Revs entered the week with the league's best home-winning percentage.

New England's 645 total passes in Wednesday's match are the most the team has attempted in a match since at least 2011, according to Opta. The 87.8 percent overall passing accuracy is the team's fourth-highest mark during that span.

New England's starting lineup featured three of the club's four 2021 MLS All-Star selections in Turner, Gustavo Bou, and Buchanan. Carles Gil was also named to the All-Star Team, as all four players earned their first career selections.

Matt Turner, Henry Kessler, and Tajon Buchanan all returned to New England's lineup following international duty at the Concacaf Gold Cup.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner made his first start in goal since July 3, recording a pair of saves to preserve his fourth shutout of the season and 20th clean sheet of his MLS career.

Defender Henry Kessler made his return to the lineup following his international debut on Aug. 1, completing 95 percent of his passes while adding five recoveries and two interceptions.

Forward Tajon Buchanan led the way with two shots on target in Wednesday's contest, also adding eight recoveries.

Defender Andrew Farrell made his 254th regular season start on Wednesday, tying Shalrie Joseph for the most MLS starts in Revolution history. Farrell marked the occasion by setting new career highs with 21 recoveries and 118 touches.

Forward Gustavo Bou logged a team-high four shots and three key passes on the night. He registered a pair of shots on target.

Defender Brandon Bye recorded team highs in interceptions (4) and clearances (2) and completed 82.5 percent of his passes on the night.

Defender DeJuan Jones registered team highs in tackles (4) and duels won (8) on the night and notched one key pass.

GAME CAPSULE

REFEREE: Silviu Petrescu.

Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Greeson (AR1); Claudiu Badea (AR2).

4th Official: Lukasz Szpala.

Video Assistant Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero.

Weather: 67 degrees and rain.

Attendance: 10,279

Scoring Summary:

None

Misconduct Summary:

NSH - Matt LaGrassa (Yellow Card - Bad Foul) 33'

NE - Gustavo Bou (Yellow Card - Bad Foul) 34'

NE - Andrew Farrell (Yellow Card - Bad Foul) 37'

NE - Wilfrid Kaptoum (Yellow Card - Bad Foul) 48'

New England Revolution: Matt Turner; DeJuan Jones, Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster, Wilfrid Kaptoum (Emmanuel Boateng 63'), Arnór Traustason (Tommy McNamara 63'), Tajon Buchanan (Teal Bunbury 81'); Gustavo Bou ©, Adam Buksa.

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Earl Edwards Jr., Christian Mafla, A.J. DeLaGarza, Scott Caldwell, Maciel

Nashville SC: Joe Willis ©; Eric Miller, Jalil Anibaba, Jack Maher, Dave Romney, Taylor Washington (Daniel Lovitz 70'); Alex Muyl (Randall Leal 79'), Tah Brian Anunga, Matt LaGrassa (Anibal Godoy 64'); Aké Arnaud Loba (Hany Mukhtar 46'), Jhonder Cadiz (C.J. Sapong 64').

Substitutes Not Used: Bryan Meredith, Roberto Castellanos, Luke Haakenson, Abu Danladi

New England Revolution Team Statistics Nashville SC

12 (6) Shots (on Target) 7 (2)

1 Blocked Shots 2

2 Saves 6

6 Corner Kicks 3

1 Offsides 1

14 Fouls 11

645 (87.8%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 293 (70.6%)

68.8% Possession 31.2%

POSTGAME QUOTES

New England Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena

On Carles Gil's status:

Arena: "I have no updates on that now. We'll know more later in the week."

On his assessment of the team's performance:

Arena: "Technically poor performance. We had to be better on the ball with our passing to create some chances, and on the night, it wasn't good. And that's why that game ended 0-0."

On Tajon Buchanan's performance:

Arena: "He did okay. He was dangerous at times. The final product wasn't there with either the pass or the shot or the cross, but on the night, he was pretty solid."

On if it was difficult to replace Carles Gil in the lineup:

Arena: "No, we had no problem knowing where to place people. It was fine. Obviously, we don't have any players that can replace Carles for what he does. But I think on the night the whole group just wasn't very good."

On Henry Kessler's performance and if it was an adjustment returning from Gold Cup:

Arena: "He was okay. He's still growing as a professional. It's going to take him some time. On the night, I thought we were fairly solid defensively. I don't think they created that many chances. So, his first game back, he did fine."

On keeping a clean sheet:

Arena: "Certainly, it would not be good to lose this game and typically that's not unusual in some of these games with Nashville. This is Nashville's 10th draw of the season. So, that's what the games look like. If you don't have the discipline that you need to have and you make a mistake and they get a goal, you're probably going to lose. So, on the night, to have a clean sheet, that's a positive."

On the difficulties of breaking down a team like Nashville SC:

Arena: "Yeah, it's difficult. You have to be sharper with your passing and your shooting. You need to be more accurate. You need to play a little quicker. I thought in the second half our spacing was better. It allowed us to get into the final third, but the final pass wasn't there."

On VAR's decision to overturn a penalty kick awarded to New England:

Arena: "I don't know what it was. I didn't see it. I mean, it shouldn't take them five minutes to come up with that decision. It's a good tool, but again, I've said this a number of times - the way we use it, it's very inefficient."

Revolution Forward Gustavo Bou

*Translated from Spanish*

On handling set pieces:

Bou: "Honestly, we knew they do a good job defensively. I think they're tough team. We knew coming into the game that we had to be patient because they're a team that defends well and they don't leave a lot of space to create opportunities. We tried to get three points tonight, but we fell short."

On the penalty called back by VAR:

Bou: "It's okay, honestly. I noticed it too. I actually saw it and told the ref that it wasn't a penalty. They saw the play clearly when they reviewed it. But honestly, that's okay, I knew that it wasn't going to be penalty after they looked at it on VAR."

On Tajon Buchanan:

Bou: "Honestly, with Carles [Gil] absent tonight, [Head Coach] Bruce [Arena] tried to put Tajon [Buchanan] in a different role and we know that that's not the role that he's accustomed to. We knew he could connect with us and we had the freedom to connect in the attack all with one another. But honestly, I think he played a good game tonight, we just couldn't find the space that we wanted to find because Nashville SC played a great game defensively."

On how the team performed without Carles:

Bou: "Like I said, it's not so much about the individual. The team didn't facilitate as well as we would've liked to tonight. I tried to find the long-range shots from the outside because I knew they were going to try and group their defenders in the inside. We tried to concentrate on connecting forward-to-forward and connect with one another close to the goal, but we just couldn't get that done tonight because of the opponent. And yeah, obviously the absence of Carles [Gil] is tough, but we all have to try do everything possible as a team to collectively lessen that impact."

Revolution Defender Andrew Farrell

On tying Shalrie Joseph for most games started in team history:

Farrell: "It feels good. It's a lot of games. Obviously, just frustrated with the result tonight and hopefully we can win on Sunday. But yeah, Shalrie is a great player, so being in the conversation with him is great."

On getting shutout by Nashville twice this season:

Farrell: "Frustrating. Obviously, we want to win at home. They're a good team, they're a good defensively, they set up in good blocks, and so we weren't good enough breaking them down. That's something we're going to look at. Hopefully, I don't know if we play them one more time. If not, it will probably be in the playoffs if we make it. Just got to get ready for Philly."

On having Matt Turner, Henry Kessler, and Tajon Buchanan back from Gold Cup:

Farrell: "It was good. Having Kessler back, I think he did a great job. That and having Matt back there gives you a lot of confidence in those things. They've got some good forwards, some big guys. I think as a defense we did a good job in limiting their chances and then Matt is cleaning up whatever is left. Yeah, I'm just frustrated with the result, but it happens."

On the benefit of having a quick turnaround against Philadelphia on Sunday:

Farrell: "It's good. I think we know we're obviously disappointed with not getting the full points at home. Nashville is a good team. They know what they want to do and they're very effective. We weren't good enough on the night - not clean enough, didn't move the ball fast enough, didn't move in open spots. We just turned the ball over too many times. It's good to get that game out of the way and then have a game against Philly, who's another good team. We got to watch the tape and get ready for those guys."

On how much the team missed Carles Gil tonight:

Farrell: "Obviously, greatly. He's the MVP, I think, of the league so far through half the season. So obviously when you miss a player of that caliber it's tough, but we got guys back from Gold Cup with Turner and Kessler and Tajon. Those guys helped us out a lot, I think. They bolstered our attack and our team. But obviously when you're missing your best player, you're not going to play as good. I think we had chances. We had two or three chances we should've scored maybe. It was going to be a 1-0 game or a 0-0 game or a 1-1 game. We had the chances. We just got to put the ball away and defend better."

On if he has spoken with Carles Gil:

Farrell: "Yeah, I think he's doing fine. Obviously, not happy that he's injured. He loves to play, he loves to be here and being on the field, but he'll be back as soon as possible. Hopefully, he can recover quick."

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