New England Revolution 5, Minnesota United FC 2 | 2017 MLS Match Recap

Colin Stephenson

The New England Revolution knew that a meeting with depleted expansion side Minnesota United FC offered a great opportunity to pick up their first victory of the season and, led by their big three attacking players, Juan Agudelo, Kei Kamara and Lee Nguyen, the Revs took care of business in their 2017 home opener at Gillette Stadium.

Agudelo scored two goals, Kamara and Nguyen each scored once, and the Revolution (1-2-0) cruised by the Loons, 5-2 on Saturday afternoon. Agudelo opened the scoring in the fourth minute, and after a cracker by Minnesota's Collen Warner briefly tied the score in the 15th, a Kamara tap-in, a Nguyen penalty kick and Agudelo's second put New England ahead 4-1 at halftime and put away any doubts.

Goals

4' – NE – Juan Agudelo Watch
15' – MIN – Collen Warner Watch
21' – NE – Kei Kamara Watch
32' – NE – Lee Nguyen (PK) Watch
41' – NE – Agudelo Watch
49' – MIN – Brent Kallman Watch
53' – NE – Chris Tierney (PK) Watch

Three Things

WORTH THE WAIT:
New England's home opener had been
delayed two weeks
because of inclement weather but the three points New England earned certainly made it a happy event for the hardy fans who ignored the raw, 40-degree conditions to see the rescheduled first home game. An early goal by Juan Agudelo helped get the fans into the game right away.
March 25, 2017

IT'S HARD ENOUGH WITH A FULL TEAM: With nine players (six regular starters) missing due to injury, suspension or international duty, the Loons couldn't even fill out a full game day roster. Minnesota United had just 17 players in uniform, one less than allowed, and all those missing players may have had something to do with all the holes apparent in the Loons' defense. Still, four games into the season, Minnesota is 0-3-1 with a minus-12 goal difference and 18 goals allowed.

IN SOCCER, POSSESSION IS NOT 9/10THS OF THE LAW:
Though they appeared to be in their own end of the field for nearly the entire first half and most of the game, Minnesota had more possession (50.7 percent), according to the boxscore. New England had more shots, however (15-9), and more saves (3-1).