Preview: Revs, Red Bulls renew I-95 rivalry at Gillette

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION vs NEW YORK RED BULLS
GILLETTE STADIUM, Foxborough, Mass.
July 8, 2012 (WEEK 18, MLS Game #170)
7 p.m. ET (Galavision; CSN-NE; MSG+)

The New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls will renew their I-95 rivalry for a second time this season when the clubs meet at Gillette Stadium on Sunday evening. The Revolution have quietly gone four games without defeat thanks to back-to-back last-gasp draws, last a 2-2 home tie with Seattle Sounders FC. The Red Bulls have now gone three games without a defeat, following a 1-1 draw last weekend at Toronto FC.

REFEREE: Drew Fischer. SAR (bench): Daniel Belleau; JAR (opposite): Bill Dittmar; 4th: Geoff Gamble
MLS Career: First game.

DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE (PDF)
INJURY REPORT:

• NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION -- OUT: GK Tim Murray (L knee menisectomy); MF Kelyn Rowe (concussion); DOUBTFUL: FW Jose Moreno (L ankle sprain); DF Kevin Alston (L hamstring tightness); FW Zak Boggs (R ankle sprain); QUESTIONABLE: MF Shalrie Joseph (L knee sprain); PROBABLE: MF Lee Nguyen (L groin strain); DF Darrius Barnes (R foot irritation)
• NEW YORK RED BULLS -- OUT: MF Teemu Tainio (R knee sprain); FW Jose Angulo (R knee sprain); DF Heath Pearce (R hamstring injury); DF Markus Holgersson (L ankle sprain); QUESTIONABLE: MF Rafa Marquez (R calf tightness)

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

SUSPENDED: none

WARNINGS:

• SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NE: Chris Tierney ... NY: Dax McCarty
• SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NE: Benny Feilhaber ... NY: Joel Lindpere, Mehdi Ballouchy, Dane Richards

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (56 meetings): Revolution 25 wins (3 shootout), 98 goals ... Red Bulls 19 wins (2 shootout), 93 goals ...Ties 12
AT NEW ENGLAND (26 meetings): Revolution 17 wins (1 shootout), 55 goals ... Red Bulls 2 wins (0 shootout), 33 goals ... Ties 5
FUTURE MATCH: 9/22: New England Revolution vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m. ET

• The teams are meeting for the second time this season. A Thierry Henry goal after just seven minutes stood up the rest of the way for a Red Bulls victory April 28 at Red Bull Arena.
• New York has not won in New England since 2002. The Revolution have won 12 of 16 meetings in league and MLS Cup play in Foxborough since that last New York win.
• The Revolution haven't won in New Jersey since 2007, now winless on their last seven trips to face the Red Bulls. The first four of those were draws; the Red Bulls have won all three league meetings all-time at Red Bull Arena.
• Coaches record: Hans Backe vs. NE: P4 W2 L1 D1 ... Jay Heaps vs. NY: first game

LAST MEETING (MLS)
4/28: NY 1, NE 0 (Henry 7)

• The game's lone goal came in the seventh minute. Connor Lade played a ball over the top down the left side, and Thierry Henry beat New England goalkeeper Matt Reis to the ball and sent a delicate lob over the 'keeper into the net.
• Henry was forced out of the game in the 23rd minute after slipping while trying to make a run on goal. The French star immediately clutched the back of his right leg and had to be helped off the field. The Red Bulls later said he suffered a hamstring strain.
• Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara was called upon to make five saves to record his first professional shutout.
• NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-4-2): Ryan Meara - Brandon Barklage, Tyler Ruthven, Markus Holgersson, Connor Lade - Dane Richards, Dax McCarty, Mehdi Ballouchy (Jhonny Arteaga 85), Joel Lindpere - Kenny Cooper, Thierry Henry (Victor Palsson 25).
• NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-4-2): Matt Reis - Kevin Alston, A.J. Soares, Stephen McCarthy, Chris Tierney (Alec Purdie 87) - Kelyn Rowe (Benny Feilhaber 46), Clyde Simms, Shalrie Joseph, Lee Nguyen - Saer Sene, Jose Moreno (Bjorn Runstrom 75)

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The New England Revolution extended their undefeated streak to four games, playing to a third consecutive draw in coming back for a last-gasp 2-2 draw tie with Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 19 points from 16 games.

HIGHLIGHTS: Revs earn dramatic point vs. Seattle
LAST MATCH

• Saer Sene put the Revolution into the lead after 12 minutes. Blake Brettschneider slid a return square ball to him inside the goal area and Sene comfortably slotted home despite Seattle claims for offside.
• Sounders FC pulled level 11 minutes later. Mauro Rosales won possession on the right side and immediately clipped a diagonal ball for Eddie Johnson to powerfully head home.
• Sounders FC and Johnson had their second after 36 minutes with another header. Marc Burch retrieved an overhit service deep in the left corner, then curled a cross toward the back post. Johnson rose highest over a pair of challenges to polish off the chance.
• But four minutes into second-half stoppage time, Diego Fagundez rose up to nod home Fernando Cardenas' cross from the left flank -- one week after Chris Tierney accomplished a similar feat in the draw at Toronto FC.
• Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made three changes to the team that got a late equalizer for a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC at BMO Field. Florian Lechner came into the back four for Kevin Alston, Shalrie Joseph started in midfield for Kelyn Rowe, and Blake Brettschneider came in up top for Diego Fagundez.
• NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-4-2): Matt Reis - Florian Lechner (Diego Fagundez 81), A.J. Soares, Stephen McCarthy, Chris Tierney - Benny Feilhaber, Clyde Simms (Kelyn Rowe 64), Shalrie Joseph, Lee Nguyen - Saer Sene, Blake Brettschneider (Fernando Cardenas 71).

TEAM NEWS
Revs preview I-95 matchup

• The goal was the first of the year for 17-year-old Fagundez, coming after he made his first start of the campaign in the Toronto match.
• "The first thing (Jay Heaps) said of course was, "You go in there, this is your night and let's get the first goal of this year right now,'" said Fagundez. "... It was a good ball by Fernando (Cardenas). He does his little moves, beat the defender, crossed it, and Saer (Sene) went near post. He was trying to go for the header, got fouled and I just followed through behind him. It was there."
• It was the second goal the 5-foot-8 Fagundez has scored on a header against Seattle. He also did it with his last goal -- last Oct. 1 at Gillette Stadium, his second career goal.
• "He's great at [finding those spaces]," Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber said. "I remember last year, he scored a goal like that off of a corner kick as well. You don't see him. You don't see him in the box and, all of a sudden, he's scoring a goal. It's like those running backs, nobody sees them between the big guys and nobody marks them."
• Saer Sene returned to the scoresheet, netting his first goal since May 26, his team-leading eighth of the season.
• "We went with a little tactical shift. I thought that by putting Saer (Sene) wider, it opened up some space for him and it paid dividends right away when he almost could've scored," said Heaps. "But unfortunately as the game went on, we made the exact same mistakes we made in Toronto. ... It was more to open it up so Saer (Sene) didn't have to get a knee up his back all the time, and to get into a spot offensively."
• Said Sene: "We played with one striker, and I played on the right side. This is a position I feel good, on my left foot. This is not new for me. We do it well. If we start the game like in the second half, we will win this game. I have a lot of options, I can go inside on my left foot or play in my right back. We will see next game."
• After getting his first goal in his five matches and making his first start since May 26, Blake Brettschneider picked up his first assist of the season.
• Four of the last six goals the Revolution have conceded have come from crosses or corner kicks.
• "To give up two unanswered goals on two headers ... it makes me upset that because we work on those things and it's not anything other than owning up to it. Owning it's coming in and you've got to do better ... it's just got to be on the player at that point," said Heaps.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

The New York Red Bulls made it three games without loss, starting a two-game road swing with a 1-1 draw against Toronto FC on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field. The Red Bulls are in second place in the Eastern Conference, with 31 points from 17 games.

HIGHLIGHTS: TFC, Red Bulls trade goal in draw at BMO
LAST MATCH

• Both goals came in a two-minute span in the opening six minutes. In the fourth minute, New York's Jan Gunnar Solli was able to easily reach a cross from the right from Brandon Barklage in the left side of the box and turn it home with a right-footed volley.
• But two minutes later, Danny Koevermans was in the center of the box to head home a corner from Torsten Frings and pull TFC level.
• Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe made three changes to the team that took a 3-2 win against D.C. United at Red Bull Arena. Wilman Conde, Dane Richards, and Thierry Henry came into the team, in place of Rafa Marquez, Roy Miller and Mehdi Ballouchy.
• NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-1-3-2): Ryan Meara - Brandon Barklage, Heath Pearce (Roy Miller 90), Wilman Conde (Stephen Keel 82), Connor Lade - Dax McCarty - Dane Richards, Joel Lindpere (Victor Palsson 79), Jan Gunnar Solli - Kenny Cooper, Thierry Henry.

TEAM NEWS
Jozy Altidore visits RBA for Atlantic Cup

• Since their 4-1 defeat at D.C. United on April 22, the Red Bulls have lost just once in 10 games in league play, going 6-1-3 in that span.
• "In this league you always have to give everything to try and grab some stuff away from home, especially when they want to show [new head coach] Paul Mariner they deserve to be in the squad" said Thierry Henry. "It wasn't an easy game at all. ... It was a great unit and difficult to find some space to break them down, but I think a 1-1 draw was a fair result."
• The TFC goal was the second conceded from a corner kick in the last three games by the Red Bulls.
• "We got the very good start but unfortunately not focused on the kickoff that ended up with a corner and the corner they scored, it was sloppy," said Backe. "I think in this league when you start like that on the road the starting point has to be to defend well we should have won this game then. With all the set plays against they are a handful."
• After going 42 MLS league games without scoring a goal, the Red Bulls' Jan Gunnar Solli now has two in two games, scoring in the 1-1 draw with Toronto FC last weekend.
• "I think when you score the first goal you kind of get a little more offense and when Brandon (Barklage) got the ball all I could think of was getting into the box. Especially in away games we need to get people to run behind and it is always going to be a threat to defend against," Solli said. "The cross was very precise and my run was good to so it just felt good."
• Henry made his second start since the end of April in the Toronto match, playing the full 90 minutes.
• "Thierry -- he will need games now, he has been away for quite a long time now and he went 90 which surprised me perhaps that he was able to. He was just improving all the time throughout the game," said Backe.
• Wilman Conde was also able to return to the team, making his second start in the last four matches -- his first two starts since starting the third and fourth games of the season.
• "I think we said at halftime that we would only play Wilman 15-20 minutes in the second half but we said that we need to gamble a little bit even if he has problem with his groin he would just give us the signal with 10 minutes left that he wanted to be subbed," Backe said.
• The Red Bulls will be without defender Heath Pearce for the Revolution with a hamstring injury suffered in the Toronto match. The club is awaiting results of a scan on the severity of the injury. "Take it day by day, impossible to say how bad it is," Backe said. "But he's out for Sunday game."
• As well, Rafa Marquez was not able to participate in full training at the start of the week, and is questionable for the weekend. "Rafa needs treatment, he is not 100 percent with his calf," said Backe. "He should be in perhaps ready for [Wednesday], but I would guess Thursday or Friday."