FOXBOROUGH — Thomas Edison once said — or so forbes.com reported a few years ago — “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
One can liken that quote to the Revolution offense from Sunday … well, during the first half, at any rate. Heading toward the Banner End Sunday afternoon, New England had difficulty in — and really, stop me if you’ve heard this before, like, at all this season — hitting the target.
For all the opportunities they had, from Carles Gil hitting the extra point/field goal screen twice to some Gustavo Bou passes into the box that were just a little too long, only one found success in putting a shot on frame. That was Teal Bunbury, whose shot from the right-hand channel put NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson into a dive to his right; only his right paw kept the match scoreless.
The Minnesota native didn’t let it get to him.
Instead, he let the miss fuel him entering the second half.
“I’m going to keep making runs,” Bunbury said after Sunday’s 2-0 Revolution win. “I’m going to keep taking my chances.”
And he did. He was on the receiving end of a well-weighted pass from Bou; he went down in the penalty area, but referee Nima Saghafi waved away the penalty shout, nothing in it for him.
Three minutes later, it was Gil serving up TB10. The pass was a touch too long. Back to the drawing board.
In the 64th minute, Bunbury had an opportunity to head the Revs ahead — but he just missed the target.
But two minutes later, Bunbury came up aces.
“Bruce (Arena) was just talking at the half,” said defender Antonio Delamea afterward, an ice-cold Budweiser in his left hand, his right arm around a reporter, “and said (Johnson) was cheating up. Shoot a little earlier.”
Bou had cut the ball back on the counter, then sent a long pass that the plastic fibers of Gillette’s carpet knelt for to Cristian Penilla out on the right. And with Bunbury sprinting ahead and right into the middle of three NYCFC defenders, Penilla played him through.
And with one touch, Bunbury drove it over Johnson’s left shoulder and into the back of the net — and into the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Bou ➡️Penilla ➡️Bunbury ?GOAL#NERevs // #NEvNYC pic.twitter.com/0CoIsZmbI9
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) September 29, 2019
"Put it to bed, New England! ?"@gustavobouok's strike seals the deal.#NERevs // #NEvNYC pic.twitter.com/PxzIzSe1Ra
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) September 29, 2019