Emmanuel Boateng’s first-half stoppage-time goal allowed the New England Revolution to salvage a 1-1 draw against FC Cincinnati on Saturday night in Foxborough, Mass.
Three minutes into added time, Brandon Bye got to the end line and crossed the ball right past a diving Roman Celentano. Boateng beat his man and ran onto the ball for a tap-in.
However, that did not mean the second half was without its moments. Both teams had opportunities to get the winner, including FC Cincinnati’s chance right at the end of stoppage time. A late corner led to a cross that found Nick Hagglund crashing the far post, but he was unable to redirect the ball on frame in the 96th minute.
Boateng also had a late chance for New England (6-1-3, 21 points), but he was unable to keep his volley from rising over the bar.
There was controversy in the 65th minute when it appeared that Cincinnati (6-1-3, 21 points) had earned a penalty after Luciano Acosta went down after what looked like contact with Andrew Farrell. The call was quickly overturned, then VAR called the referee over to the monitor. After a lengthy deliberation, the referee still called no penalty.
Boateng’s first-half goal leveled the match following a tally in the 31st minute by Cincinnati. On a corner, Yerson Mosquera slipped past a defender and rose to get enough of the ball to put it past Revs goalkeeper Djorde Petrovic at the far post.
The goal came only moments after Petrovic saved Acosta’s penalty after a handball was given just on the edge of the box. Petrovic feinted to his right, then dove left to parry Acosta’s shot away. Petrovic and Celentano both finished with four saves on the night.
Both teams had chances to break the deadlock in the dying moments of first-half stoppage time.
Only moments after Boateng equalized, Sergio Santos had a golden chance to restore Cincinnati’s lead. He found himself wide open at the penalty spot, but he put his shot straight on Petrovic. Then at the final whistle, Boateng had two shots inside the box, but neither found the back of the net, as the first was blocked before Celentano guided the second wide of the post.
The Revs suffered a large loss during the game as Dylan Borrero had to be stretchered off after an awkward landing after a tackle by Mosquera.
–Field Level Media
