ATLANTA – The New England Revolution’s path to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs just got a whole lot tougher.
After finding themselves on the wrong end of a 7-0 shellacking on Wednesday night at Atlanta United FC, New England are now looking at a steep mountain to climb to claim a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The eighth-place Revs are now one point behind the Montreal Impact and six points adrift of sixth-place New York Red Bulls, with both clubs having a game in hand on New England.
“It’s not pleasant and we’ve got to learn our lesson,” head coach Jay Heaps said after the loss. “The biggest mistake we made in this game was giving up the goal in the first minute because we were prepared. We took a bad approach [that led] to that first goal, and that’s too bad because it derailed the rest of the game.”
The game, among others, may have just derailed New England’s season. With the loss, the team remains winless on the road this season with a record of 0-11-3 away from Gillette Stadium. To make matters worse, the remaining schedule for the Revs is tough, with four of their six remaining opponents currently sitting in playoff positions.
Revs goalkeeper Cody Cropper said the team needs to move on immediately to have a chance at derailing Sporting Kansas City’s unbeaten home record on Saturday (8:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
“For us, this game is done. It is in the past and we — as a group — have moved on,” Cropper told reporters after the match. “I think the next 48 hours is huge. We need to take care of our bodies, recover mentally and just forget that this game happened. We play them again and we can focus on that then but right now, we are focused on KC and going there and getting three points.”
New England defender Andrew Farrell said that the team still believes a playoff push is on the cards, even though the Revolution will be without midfielder Xavier Kouassi and center back Antonio Mlinar Delamea on Saturday due to red card suspensions.
“I think a lot of guys showed heart, showed that it’s the guys in the locker room that are the ones who can make the difference to get our chances and make it to the playoffs,” Farrell said postgame. “We have to get ready for KC, who is another great team at home. We have to bring the fight and the heart that I saw in the second half from a lot of the guys on the bench and on the field. We want to make the playoffs. We want to push for that and I think we have the guys that can do it.”
