New England Revolution 4, Real Salt Lake 0 | 2017 MLS Match Recap

Colin Stephenson

The New England Revolution hadn't won a game in more than a month, and returning home against struggling Real Salt Lake represented a golden opportunity to change that. And on a rainy, gloomy night in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the Revs took full advantage of that opportunity, pummeling RSL, 4-0 at Gillette Stadium.

Scott Caldwell got New England started early, knocking home a low cross from Diego Fagundez in the fourth minute. Kei Kamara, returning to the lineup following the birth of his son, doubled the Revs' lead in the 18th, and Fagundez made it 3-0 in the 34th. Lee Nguyen made it 4-0 before halftime, finishing a pass from Kamara as the Revs ended a five-game winless streak. For depleted RSL, the loss was their fourth straight.

Goals

4' – NE – Scott Caldwell Watch
18' – NE – Kei Kamara Watch
34' – NE – Diego Fagundez Watch
41' – NE – Lee Nguyen Watch

Three Things

CRUSH THEIR SPIRIT: When you're up against a weakened opponent, one you know you should beat, what you need is a fast start, to take away any hope your opponent has of pulling any kind of upset. So a goal in the fourth minute was just the ticket for the Revs. Scott Caldwell did the honors for New England, but it was Diego Fagundez' tricky move to sell a back pass and then turn instead to the end line and send the cross in that created the goal. And a nice dummy by Kelyn Rowe helped, too.

THE GROUND UNDER THEIR FEET: This was debut of the new FieldTurf surface at Gillette Stadium and with the game played in a steady, heavy rain, the field certainly seemed to perform well. Players didn't appear to have any trouble with footing and the surface didn't look to be a factor, which is what you want, after all.

HELLO, NICE TO MEET YOU:
With so many players missing because of injury or U-20 National Team duty, the RSL lineup featured three midfielders making their first start of the season and one defender,
Reagan Dunk
, making his MLS debut. It's tough to win with that many new guys in the lineup at the same time.