New York Red Bulls 2, New England Revolution 1 | 2017 MLS Match Recap

Colin Stephenson

An early deficit seemed to spur the New York Red Bulls into action and two second-half goals lifted the home side to a 2-1 victory over the visiting New England Revolution Saturday at Red Bull Arena.

Lee Nguyen's penalty had put New England in front in the ninth minute, but the Red Bulls woke up and dominated play after that, finally equalizing on Bradley Wright-Phillips' backheel into an empty net in the 47th minute. Daniel Royer's tap-in of a Kemar Lawrence square pass in the 74th minute proved to be the game-winner.

Goals

9' – NE – Lee Nguyen (PK) Watch
47' – NY – Bradley Wright-Phillips Watch
74' – NY – Daniel Royer Watch

Three Things

DELAYED OPENING: Visiting New England dominated the first 10 minutes, but once the Revolution went ahead, on Lee Nguyen's successful penalty, the Red Bulls took over completely. By the end, New York had 60 percent of the possession and had amassed 10 corners, compared to two for the Revs.

FRUSTRATED FRONTMEN: Revolution target forward Kei Kamara had a tough day, contributing little until he was subbed out of a 1-1 game in the 66th minute. Kamara had three shots in the game, but none on target. His replacement, Juan Agudelo, didn't do much, either. Agudelo, who missed the prior two games with an injury, had two shots, none on target.

HE'S BEST WITH HIS BACK TO THE GOAL:
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored on a backheel on Saturday. And his last goal, last weekend against Toronto FC, was
a bicycle kick
(or, at least, some folks think it was a bicycle kick), meaning he's scored his last two goals with his back to the goal. Hey, when you've played as long as he has and scored as many goals as him, you don't really need to look at the goal -- you know where it is.