Cristian Penilla lifts Revolution over struggling Red Bulls

ByReuters ESPN logo
Sunday, April 21, 2019

Cristian Penilla scored in the 73rd minute, and the New England Revolution beat the visiting New York Red Bulls 1-0 Saturday night in Foxborough, Mass.

Penilla scored his first goal of the season and 13th of his career since joining New England as a transfer from Brazilian side Chapecoense before the 2018 season. He broke the Revolution's 281-minute goal drought and helped them get their second win of the season.

Penilla scored after he took a pass from Juan Fernando Caicedo and eluded Red Bulls defender Aaron Long. He then finished off the play with a left-footed shot from the left side of the box that sailed past the diving attempt of goalkeeper Luis Robles.

New England goalkeeper Cody Cropper tied a career high by making five saves for the second straight week. He recorded his 10th career shutout and first since Sept. 9, 2017 against Montreal.

Cropper helped New England get the three points by stopping a header attempt in the 82nd minute by Bradley Wright-Phillips. Seven minutes later, Wright-Phillips' attempt was blocked by defender Jalil Anibaba.

New York saw its winless streak reach five games (0-4-1) and was blanked for the third time this season. The Red Bulls played without Alejandro Romero Gamarra (suspension) and Kemar Lawrence (illness), and only five of their 13 shots were on target.

Robles finished with one save.

The Red Bulls seemed to get the better of the play in the latter stages of the first half and nearly took the lead in the 39th minute, but Cropper made a diving two-handed stop on Marc Rzatkowski's left-footed shot from the middle of the box.

Before getting the lead, New England had three scoring chances in a span of seven minutes. Robles stopped Teal Bunbury's header in the 55th minute, while Diego Fagundez's attempt in the 56th sailed over the crossbar. His next attempt six minutes later went wide to the right.

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