Revolution continue crucial homestand vs. Sounders (Jul 05, 2018)
The New England Revolution opened a crucial three-game homestand last week on the right foot. They'll continue it against a team that's coming off a midweek victory but has failed to generate much offense in 2018.
The Revolution seek their third straight home win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night.
After a break that exceeded two weeks, New England (7-4-6) extended its latest unbeaten streak to six games with last Saturday's 3-2 win over last-place D.C. United. Cristian Penilla registered his second brace of the season and Teal Bunbury set a personal best with his 10th goal of the year.
"One of the takeaways is that any team can give you a fight in this league," Revolution defender Andrew Farrell said.
The Revolution will play five of six on the road after facing the LA Galaxy on July 14. Heading into this weekend's matches, all three opponents on New England's homestand are out of the playoff mix.
Bunbury, Penilla and Diego Fagundez have 23 of New England's 30 goals this year.
Though Seattle has scored a league-low 15 goals this season and the Revolution (6-2-2 at home in 2018) currently hold a postseason berth in Brad Friedel's first season as coach, he warns the team not to be complacent.
"My staff and I won't allow complacency. If we feel that it's creeping in with individuals or collectively, we'll try to put an end to it," Friedel said. "That's in any sport. Complacency is a dangerous thing to have happen. When you have players that are complacent, no matter what the reason is, their drive and determination on the field and off the field to get better, sort of lessens."
New England is 4-1-1 all time at Gillette Stadium against Seattle.
The Sounders (4-9-3) snapped a three-game road losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday. Will Bruin scored his second goal of the match in the 59th minute to break the tie.
"In the short term, it's good," Bruin told the team's official website. "We get some goals, get the win, start playing with some confidence, but it's a quick turnaround to New England, so hopefully we can get three more points."
Bruin has five goals this season and no other Sounders player has more than one. New England defender Antonio Delamea didn't appear complacent when talking about Seattle.
"We know they have a really good team with really good individuals. We'll have to step up our game from the last game, that's for sure," he said.
Seattle and Colorado are tied for 10th in the Western Conference. The Sounders trail the Vancouver Whitecaps by eight points for the final playoff spot with two matches in hand.
