Nguyen stock rises, Bunbury stock falls in Revs draw vs. D.C. United

The Revolution secured a come-from-behind draw against D.C. United over the weekend, using a second-half own goal to preserve a point. But the Revs knew they could have—and probably should have—done better. In fact, Jay Heaps said his team felt “gutted” after the match, despite earning results in consecutive outings.

How did the Revs perform in week eight? We dive deeper in this week’s edition of stock up, stock down:

Stock up

Lee Nguyen

While interchanging with Juan Agudelo in the playmaker role, Nguyen jumped on the score sheet in the 5th minute by tucking home a perfectly-weighted cross from Kei Kamara. Nguyen sent his shot directly into the turf, making it nearly-impossible for Hamid to make a reaction save on the redirect.

Nguyen continued to buzz about for the rest of his 74-minute shift, unlocking the attack with a team-high four key passes. A second goal would have gone a long way, though Nguyen did his part to keep the attacking moving forward.

Juan Agudelo

Agudelo’s stock didn’t rise because of his attacking contributions; while the Colombian-born forward created two chances and looked strong in the air, he struggled to make the game-changing pass (or shot) the Revs desperately needed down the stretch.

Instead, his stock rose because of his strong defensive performance. Until Saturday’s match, Agudelo had yet to prove that he could handle the defensive duties of his attacking midfield/forward role. But after collecting a team-high four tackles and showing a higher-than-usual defensive work rate, Agudelo looks capable of developing the defensive side of his game.

Bonus: Cody Cropper’s post and crossbar

No team hit the woodwork more than the Revolution in 2016. Yet on Saturday, the tables turned. D.C. rookie Ian Harkes hit the left post and crossbar on separate shots. And Lee Nguyen redirected a Lamar Neagle shot off the crossbar to save a goal in the 61st minute. Lucky or not, the Revolution can credit the woodwork for helping to preserve a draw on Saturday.

Stock down

Teal Bunbury

Bunbury entered the match in the 74th minute and immediately made his presence known. He made dangerous runs and put himself in a position to give the Revs a go-ahead goal. Unfortunately, Bunbury’s two gaffes—a shanked, close-range shot and a heavy touch on a potential one-on-one with Bill Hamid—made more of an impact than his positive contributions.

In 94 minutes of action this season, Bunbury has taken just one on-target shot and created just one goal-scoring chance. Jay Heaps will need more from the former Akron standout down the stretch.