FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It may not seem like one of those plays that occurs often in any setting, but Revolution forward Diego Fagundez actually foreshadowed his goal in Saturday night's 2-1 defeat to Seattle during practice on Thursday.
Fagundez – listed as a rather generous 5-foot-8 in the Revolution media guide – weaved his way through the crowd on a corner kick and nodded home against his teammates earlier in the week.
“Everybody was making fun of him for that,” Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber told MLSsoccer.com after the match. “People don't see him in there, I guess. That little red mohawk, nobody sees it.”
The subterfuge translated from the training field to an actual game situation against Sounders FC. Fagundez found himself in space after 35 minutes and coolly nodded home Feilhaber's corner kick to give the Revolution the lead.
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS: NE 1, SEA 2
“It is pretty funny,” Fagundez said. “I did exactly the same play at practice and during the game. The play's working, so I guess I should keep doing it more often.”
Fagundez's second goal of the campaign commemorated his first start for the Revs and concluded an influential opening period. The 16-year-old Home Grown player's movement caused problems for a makeshift Sounders back four and created chances for himself and others.
Although he probably shouldn't win many headers given his stature, Fagundez's movement in the run of play shows why he has the ability to find the right spots in set-piece situations, according to Revolution midfielder Chris Tierney.
“You can see his quality,” Tierney said. “He's 16 years old, but he plays the game the right way. He's so active up there and he has great feet and great vision. You see the way he just snuck in (on his goal). He's the smallest guy on the field and he's scoring us a goal off a corner.”
While the Revs won't expect those types of headed finishes every week, they do hope to see more of the promising displays Fagundez has submitted in his four appearances so far this season.
“(We expect) really bright things from him in the future,” Tierney said. “Hopefully, he'll continue to help us out the way he has because he's really been a spark for us.”
