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MLS New England Revolution

Revolution and Nashville SC Play to 1-1 Draw

October 24, 2020 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution (7-5-8, 29 pts.) played to a 1-1 draw against Nashville SC at Nissan Stadium on Friday night - the teams' first-ever meeting in the Music City. Nashville's Walker Zimmerman opened the scoring with a headed goal from a corner kick in the 74th minute, but New England's Adam Buksa equalized three minutes later with his second goal in the Revolution's last three games.

Reigning MLS Newcomer of the Year Carles Gil, who returned to full-team training earlier this week after recovering from Achilles tendon surgery on August 4, made his first appearance since July 17. Gil entered the match as a substitute in the 63rd minute and recorded 22 touches and one foul won.

Buksa now owns five goals in his debut MLS season, which is tied with Gustavo Bou for second most among Revolution players. He is one of three players along with Teal Bunbury and Tajon Buchanan to appear in all 20 of New England's league games this season, and has scored three times over the team's last six matches. Kekuta Manneh registered his first assist with the Revolution on Buksa's 77th-minute equalizer after entering the match as a substitute one minute prior.

Two long-time Revolution players, Teal Bunbury and Lee Nguyen, both made their 200th career appearances with the club in tonight's contest. They are among 11 players to reach the 200 games-played mark with New England. Bunbury also registered his 200th career MLS start in the match.

The Revolution remain in fifth place on the Eastern Conference table with three games remaining in the regular season. The team will look to remain above sixth place in order to advance directly to Round 1 of the MLS Cup Playoffs and avoid a single-elimination play-in round. The top-four teams in the conference will host a Round 1 match.

New England returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 28, when the club visits the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. The match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and in Portuguese on WBIX 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA.

POSTGAME NOTES

New England Revolution 1, Nashville SC 1

October 23, 2020 - Nissan Stadium (Nashville, Tenn.)

Revolution Play to 1-1 Draw against Nashville SC

The Revolution (7-5-8, 28 pts.) battled Nashville SC to a 1-1 draw at Nissan Stadium on Friday night.

Adam Buksa scored the first the goal against Nashville SC in club history, his fifth of the 2020 season, on Kekuta Manneh's assist in the 77th minute.

The Revolution's away record in 2020 moves to 5-2-1, including a 3-0-1 mark over the team's last four road games.

New England's all-time record against Nashville SC shits to 0-0-2 after the two Eastern Conference sides played to a 0-0 draw on Oct. 3 at Gillette Stadium.

Head Coach and Sporting Director Bruce Arena's all-time record moves to 217-129-105, and 15-8-16 with the Revolution.

Adam Buksa Nets Fifth Goal of 2020 Season

- Forward Adam Buksa scored his fifth goal of the 2020 campaign on a right-footed shot from outside the box in the 77th minute.

- Buksa, who has scored in consecutive road matches, has recorded two goals and one assist over the last three games.

- Tonight's goal brings Buksa to within one goal of Teal Bunbury (6) for the team lead.

- Buksa, who has appeared in every match this season, entered tonight's match in the 63rd minute as a substitute.

- Forward/midfielder Kekuta Manneh registered his first assist in a Revolution uniform, and his first since July 13, 2019 with FC Cincinnati, on Buksa's tally.

Carles Gil Makes First Appearance in Return From Injury

- Midfielder Carles Gil made his first appearance since July 17 against D.C. United in the MLS is Back Tournament.

- Gil, who returned to full-team training earlier this week after recovering from Achilles tendon surgery on August 4, entered the match as a 63rd-minute substitution for midfielder Tommy McNamara.

- Gil registered 22 touches and successfully completed 12 of 17 pass attempts over 27 minutes of action.

Teal Bunbury, Lee Nguyen Reach Club Milestones

- Forward Teal Bunbury and midfielder Lee Nguyen became the 10th and 11th players in club history to register 200 regular season appearances with the Revolution. Bunbury's start in tonight's match was the 200th of his MLS career.

- Bunbury who leads MLS with six away goals this season, registered his third straight full 90-minute performance.

- Nguyen also played the full 90 minutes and finished tonight's contest with 90 touches, two interceptions and one clearance, while completing 71 of 78 pass attempts. Nguyen's next start will be the 225th of his MLS career.

Revolution Make One Change to Starting Lineup

The New England Revolution made one change to the starting lineup from Monday's match against Philadelphia, with, Diego Fagundez starting in place of Adam Buksa.

Fagundez made the 260th appearance of his career, bringing the Leominster, Mass. native within one appearance of matching Shalrie Joseph (261) for the club's all-time regular season games played record. Fagundez successfully completed 26 of 34 pass attempts and logged two shots in a 62-minute shift.

Midfielder Scott Caldwell eclipsed 15,000 minutes played for his regular season career with his 83-minute performance. The Braintree, Mass. native is the club's second Homegrown Player to reach the milestone after Fagundez.

Defender Andrew Farrell logged his 15th complete 90-minute shift of the season. Farrell recorded team-highs in possession gained (12), tackles (5) and clearances (3), along with two interceptions.

GAME CAPSULE

Referee: Robert Sibiga

Assistant Referee: Brian Poeschel (AR1), Brooke Mayo (AR2)

Fourth Official: Tori Penso

Video Assistant Referee: Dave Gantar

Weather: 71 degrees and raining

Attendance: 3,727

Scoring Summary:

NSH- Walker Zimmerman 3 (Randall Leal 3) 74'

NE- Adam Buksa 5 (Kekuta Manneh 1) 77'

Misconduct Summary:

NSH- Dax McCarty (Yellow Card - Unsporting Behavior) 62'

NSH- Brian Anunga (Yellow Card - Unsporting Behavior) 66'

New England Revolution: Matt Turner; Alexander Büttner (Brandon Bye 76'), Andrew Farrell, Henry Kessler, DeJuan Jones; Tommy McNamara (Carles Gil 63'), Scott Caldwell © (Matt Polster 83'); Diego Fagundez (Adam Buksa 63'), Lee Nguyen, Tajon Buchanan (Kekuta Manneh 76'); Teal Bunbury

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Michael Mancienne, Antonio Delamea, Kelyn Rowe

Nashville SC: Joe Willis; Daniel Lovitz, Jalil Anibaba, Dave Romey, Eric Miller (Derrick Jones HT), Walker Zimmerman; Anibal Godoy © (Dax McCarty 59'), Brian Anunga, Alex Muyl (Jhonder Cadiz 69'); Abu Danladi (Eric Rios HT), Randall Leal (Taylor Washington 83')

Substitutes Not Used: Alistair Johnston, Jack Maher, Matt LaGrassa, Elliot Panicco

New England Revolution Team Statistics Nashville SC

9 (2) Shots (on Target) 10 (4)

3 Blocked Shots 3

3 Saves 1

4 Corner Kicks 5

1 Offsides 1

13 Fouls 13

632 (85%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 358 (75%)

63.6% Possession 36.4%

POSTGAME NOTES

New England Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena

On his takeaways from tonight's draw at Nashville:

Arena: "They're a team you certainly don't want to fall behind a goal to, especially when they're playing at home because they defend with great numbers. For us to get a goal back and get a point out of the game was a good performance, although I'm disappointed we didn't get three points that we wanted. They're a tough team to breakdown. That's the way they play, and you got to be pretty clean with your passing and shooting and movement in the final third of the field. We're not yet there, but very good goal by Adam [Buksa]. Overall, a good performance. Going into the game, we knew if they're going to get a goal it's probably off a restart. We were probably at fault for not defending well on a couple of those corners, so that's got to get cleaned up. Give them credit - they always play hard, they defend with numbers, and they get results. They get credit for their performance tonight, and I give our team a lot of credit for putting themselves in a difficult position and still managing to get a point out of it. "

On the substitutes' impact in tonight's game, including the return of Carles Gil:

Arena: "Adam's [Buksa] goal was huge and obviously he played pretty well. I thought Brandon Bye did a solid job in a short number of minutes there. Carles [Gil], we knew it was going to be a little bit challenging for him. He hasn't been back that long, but we got to get him on the field. The only way you're going to get yourself back in form in our sport is by playing in games. You can only do so much in practice. He's worked hard coming back during his quarantine, but we got to get him on the field to get him ready. It was an important 30 minutes for him tonight."

On how encouraging it was to have Carles Gil back tonight:

Arena: "It's encouraging, yeah. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks we're going to get the real Carles out there, because it's difficult being away so long and throwing him in a game like that. Overall, I think he did fine. We know it's just going to get better and better."

On the team's response to Nashville's opening goal:

Arena: "I think, on the night, they're a frustrating team to play against. By no means should we walk off the field tonight and not get a point or three points. I was very encouraged with their attitude, how they pushed to come back. It was a great goal by Adam. I give him a lot of credit. That was encouraging."

On Gustavo Bou's status and possible availability for Wednesday's game:

Arena: "It's possible. He's going to be back soon. He's been handled very delicately. His injury is a minor one and when he comes back, he will be coming back at 100 percent."

On playing Lee Nguyen and Carles Gil together:

Arena: "We'll see how that develops. And also getting Gustavo [Bou] on the field will make us a little bit more of a dangerous and cleaner team in the attack."

Revolution Midfielder Carles Gil

*Quotes translated from Spanish*

On how it felt to be back with the team and whether he felt encouraged with his performance:

Gil: "I'm really happy to have this feeling of being back with my teammates. It's incredible. I've worked really hard for this moment. The past two months, two and a half months were tough on me. But I'm happy to be playing again."

On the field and weather conditions:

Gil: "It didn't help. The field was tough. Like you said, the conditions with the rain didn't help with the injury. But I felt fine, I felt comfortable. I'm still missing a little rhythm but it was good to be able to train with the team a couple times. My goal was to be in the best physical form to help the team."

On returning to the team ahead of schedule:

Gil: "When I got injured my goal was to work as hard as possible to return sooner than expected. I owe a lot to my personal trainer in Spain. This wouldn't have been possible without him. We worked really hard for two and a half months in Spain. My intention was to get back. I'm here with four or five games left on the schedule. I'm not yet there physically. My head was seeing things that my legs weren't ready for, but that's normal. I hope to be back to normal in a few games."

On injuries to Gustavo Bou and Cristian Penilla, and next Wednesday's match at New York Red Bull:

Gil: "It's never good to have injuries. Gustavo and Cristian are two important players for us. But all season long we've been saying that we're a team more that we're individuals. I think we're competing at a high level. We know Wednesday's match will be tough. They're a tough team, they press well and they're tough at home. But we're competing well and I think we'll be in a good position to come away with three points."

Revolution Midfielder Scott Caldwell

On tonight's draw vs. Nashville SC:

Caldwell: "I thought that we overall played pretty well aside from our defensive set pieces which we gave them a few too many chances on. It's something that we had talked about going into the game and something that [Nashville SC] really focus on and the way that they play - they defend, counter, and try to get chances on set pieces - so I didn't think we were good enough there. But I thought our response as a team collectively was really great. I thought the guys who came off the bench did a good job, they were outstanding and helped us get the point."

On the emotional boost of getting Carles Gil back in the lineup:

Caldwell: "It's huge. I was very excited to see him get back, be healthy, and step on the field again. It's great to have him on the field, not just soccer-wise but emotionally for the group. He's a leader for us on and off the field and someone who can really be a game-changer so we're really excited to have him back."

On where the team needs to improve in the attack:

Caldwell: "It's a style that Nashville tends to play. They're very good at getting into their blocks and we experienced that a few weeks back at home. When it comes to the final third, getting the ball in the final third, that final pass with just the quick movement and interchange between our front four or five and the timing of our runs getting the ball into the box, we could've been better in a lot of ways but it's something we can continue to improve and continue to work on. I think Nashville, give them credit, they're very good at getting in their blocks and limiting chances."

On the mentality to respond quickly after falling behind:

Caldwell: "[Nashville SC is] a team that once they get that goal they sit even more in a shell usually and so we were able to get that goal which was huge. Adam [Buksa] had a great finish, a great turn and hit. And I guess maybe we upped our urgency a little bit so maybe we could do that from the start. But I think overall we did a good job of getting into the right spots but we just didn't create that final chance. But to answer the question, it was huge. It was a difficult thing to do against them and we were able to get the tie and even had a few chances at the end in a few good spots."

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