It was not to long ago that New England Revolution fans were wondering about this teams offense and where the goals were going to come from. That is not the case at the moment after the Revs scored five goals for the second consecutive game to beat the Philadelphia Union 5-3. The win, New England’s first-ever at PPL Park, put the team into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference.
Everything that Jay Heaps is doing at the moment is working. Daigo Kobayashi seems to be a steal the season while teams must be looking at their draft strategy and wondering how Patrick Mullins, who scored for the second consecutive week, slide down the draft board.
New England’s success last year was built on playing at a high tempo with midfielders who can attack from all angles. It took a month or so to get that style of play going, but moving Teal Bunbury and bringing in Mullins was a masterstroke move by Heaps. Bunbury never looked comfortable playing as an target man, while Mullins embraces it. Plus the kid can score.
Lee Nguyen and Diego Fagundez have rediscovered their form, and scoring touch, from last season, and they are causing defenses matchup problems at the moment.
The 5-3 win in Philadelphia had everything that Heaps would have wanted. The Revs scored five and created another three or four really good chances. They also conceded three goals, something that the Revs coaching staff can point at and keep the town grounded.
What is impressive about the Revs current six games unbeaten streak is that they have mostly done it without their two best players from last season, Kelyn Rowe and Jose Goncalves. Rowe is slowly working his way back from a hamstring injury, while Goncalves has been out for a couple of weeks with a quadriceps injury.
It’s been a while since MLS had to pay any attention to what is going on in Boston, but this is not your Steve Nicol Revs. This is a young, high tempo side that can score goals for fun.
