Arena back on bench as Revs host NYCFC

New York City FC will try to run its winning streak to three matches Wednesday night when it pays a visit to the New England Revolution in Foxborough, Mass.

The Revs (2-1-5, 11 points) are 4-1-1 all-time at home against NYCFC and have not lost in seven straight matches overall.

New England head coach Bruce Arena returns to the bench for the first time in more than a month after serving a three-game suspension for confronting game officials after his team's 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union on July 25.

NYCFC (3-5-0, nine points), however, is coming off a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night after shutting out the Columbus Crew 1-0 five days earlier.

Maxi Moralez's return from a calf injury as a halftime substitute provided the spark for NYCFC against the Fire, as he assisted on Anton Tinnerholm's game-winning goal in the 53rd minute.

"Attacking-wise, he's the most important player for the team and he makes teammates better. That's his strength and that's what I really like about him," Tinnerholm told reporters of Moralez. "He's not the guy dribbling (past) five players and scoring. He finds his spaces, today to me and even some balls to Taty (Castellanos) where he can score."

Gustavo Bou's equalizer gave the Revs a draw with the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night, running their record to 1-0-2 since the end of the MLS Is Back Tournament.

"Give credit to the team, they didn't put their heads down and the guys kept playing and it was a nice goal we created and scored," Revs assistant coach Richie Williams said. "Then unfortunately the rest of the game we had other opportunities that were just not clean enough in the final third or being able to get that goal that we need, obviously resulting in a bunch of these draws."

The tally gave Bou a two-game goal-scoring streak. The forward is second in MLS in chances created (25) and shots on goal (14).

The teams last met on Sept. 29, 2019, in Foxborough, a 2-0 win by the Revs that clinched a playoff berth.

--Field Level Media