Before last game, Bruce said he needed another week, so I don't think we will see Bou tonight. Probably coming of the bench in ATL Sunday. I would expect to see Jozy starting tonight though.
I think every single person (all 200 of us) in the stadium made the same joke. And we all kinda meant it.
Petrovic only made one save, and that was after an Omar mistake. The broadcaster on ESPN+ said the Revs xG was only around 2.0, so those were some quality finishes by Carles and Adam. Cincy rested most of their starters, Revs only rested 3 (Turner, Lletget, and Polster), so can't take too much from this game. Geoff Cameron may be the only CB in MLS further over the hill than Omar, and Vermeer is 3rd string for a reason. Atlanta's 988-day reign as US Open Cup champs came to an end in Nashville last night, as they blew a 2-0 lead to fall 3-2 in AET. Lightning stopped the MIN@COL match after 20 minutes tied 1:1. It will resume today at 2pm ET. SJE @ SEA came down to keeper vs keeper in the 11th round of PKs, with SJE prevailing. No cupsets in this round.
My prediction for the groupings in tonight's draw (8:30 pm): NER NRB LOU NYC ORL MIA CHA NSH SKC MIN/COL HOU OMA LA2 SJE SAC LAG
I think Arena surprised us all by going with a strong lineup. But color me pleased. Even the backups were pretty good. Maciel quietly had a good game, and Traustason played with real energy, which was good to see. If he can work himself back into the lineup, that would be a real positive development from this game.
Maciel was good and steady. Traustason was sloppy early, but got better as the game went on. Big play earning the tying PK. He got knocked around quite a bit - you could see he finally had enough of that. After giving up the early goal, Cincy was giving us a ton of space and passing lanes, so the goal deluge wasn't really surprising considering the level of defending. We were pretty clinical in our ball movement (although we could have been even sharper and scored more - Buksa should have scored on his shot off the post, for example). I doubt we'll see such a weak lineup again. The big surprise for me was how much we struggled against it for the first 20+.
I was close. They swapped Charlotte for Louisville: Northeast@CharlotteFC @NERevolution @NewYorkRedBulls @NYCFC— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) May 12, 2022
I agree I took every performance with a grain of salt, because FCC played what amounts to a reserve/USL side. But a couple of players were downright dominant and should be rewarded as such. Buksa and Gil obviously headline that list, but Brandon Bye and Arnor Traustason (especially from 30' to 60') performed like their opponents shouldn't have been on same pitch. I hope Arnor especially gets a bit more of a look, even if only as a sub, going forward.
This was definitely the approach I wanted them to take, which to me says they are taking the competition seriously. That's the only big take away from last night since FCC's lineup was so shoddy.
We will see which of their six home fields they put this game in... Edit: Looks like it is #6: Belson Stadium. Ready for the Revs in the Round of 16 at Belson Stadium 🏆🇺🇸 @opencup pic.twitter.com/hP43ULGkAG— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) May 13, 2022
Whoever wins this match will play at the winner of RBNY/Charlotte. So we're on the road for the next two at least (if we win at Belsen).
Tough draw but just like the playoffs, we'll have to beat a strong team eventually to win the thing...might as well start now with some revenge for getting bossed in last season's playoff game.
The thing I like about USOC is playing different teams. So, it looks like, not only will we be getting all MLS team most likely, but the same eastern teams that we play over and over again. Playing at St. John's has the advantage of being a real field, instead of whatever Yankee Stadium is, and field turf, our most familiar surface.
This will be tough one. On the road at Belson Stadium vs NYC FC Wed at 7:30pm (ESPN+). NYC is red hot, going 6W-1D in the last 7, with 6 shutouts, +15 GD. They played yesterday, so Revs have an extra day of rest compared to NYC. NYC go to MIN on Saturday. Revs host PHI on Saturday, so they need to be at their best. Buksa came out injured Saturday, so I wouldn't risk him Wednesday. Same with Kessler. Maybe something like: Rennicks Borrero-Gil-Traustason Polster-Kaptoum Jones-Gonzalez-Farrell-DeLaGarza Petrovic