FOXBOROUGH — Make your touches on the ball worth it. Make your runs off the ball meaningful.
Both of those things occurred in the lead-up to New England’s first of four goals in Saturday night's 4-1 win over Orlando City.
The Edgar Castillo-to-Gustavo Bou sequence in only the game’s third minute, when you slow it down and break it down, is what coaches all over the soccer world preach: clean touches, solid hold-up, a pass, and a crisp finish.
The sequence begins with Bou dribbling away from the touchline, with Castillo making an overlapping run to the Argentine’s left. Bou then gives a sharp back heel to the New Mexico native.
What happens next is footballing majesty.
“That left side, we have good chemistry,” Castillo told BostonSportsJournal.com Saturday night, “and on that one, I called him back. He back-heeled it to me, and then I saw him running.”
The off-the-ball run by Bou was critical, but not only that, Castillo’s hold-up play was equally imperative. Castillo only had two touches on the ball, the first with his right, the second with his left to pass. The pass to Bou mere heartbeats later came with three white shirts around him, and with Bou already inside the 18-yard box.
“I just played him. And it's good for having (Cristian) Penilla outside so I can play both,” Castillo said, noting that the Ecuadorian was another passing option, albeit more to the left. Bou, however, was dead center, with a better angle at the goal. “It's my job to look forward to Penilla or him. I just saw him run through and he called for it.”
Only 8 yards from goal, Bou blasted home his second in a New England jersey.
WOW ?@gustavobouok gets #NERevs on the board EARLY. #NEvORL pic.twitter.com/V34rwnxyma
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 27, 2019