Delamea stock up, Kamara stock down in Revolution loss vs. Red Bulls

Against a Red Bulls side that has yet to lose at home this season, the Revolution took an early lead on a Lee Nguyen spot kick. But in the second half, two unanswered goals—one by Bradley Wright-Phillips, and one from Daniel Royer—dashed the Revs pursuit of a road victory.

Here are two players who stood out, and two who didn’t, during the week 13 loss:

Stock up

Antonio Delamea

This season, Delamea has continually piled one strong performance on top of another. And that’s exactly what he did on Saturday.

Fresh off an impressive showing against Crew SC, Delamea refused to back down from a fast-paced RBNY attack. He stalled several attacking chances (six interceptions, four tackles), kept Cody Cropper’s box clean (10 clearances) and exercised his strength in the air (six aerial wins). And, for the second week in a row, he helped the Revs keep possession by connecting on more than 95 percent of his passes out of the back.

At some point, Delamea’s stock will stop rising. That point hasn’t come yet.

Gershon Koffie

In his first start since returning to Foxboro, Koffie turned in a sneaky-efficient shift, just as he did so often last season. Yet this time around, Koffie played in a more advanced midfield role with Xavier Kouassi sitting in front of the back four. In this new role, Koffie effectively carried out his defensive duties, clogging the passing lines while picking up five tackles. And while he didn’t offer the usual creativity of Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez or Kelyn Rowe moving forward, he provided a steady presence in the middle of the park. His 90 percent passing rate didn’t hurt, either.

With five months of the season still to play, Koffie will give Jay Heaps the midfield versatility he needed during the early part of the season. The opportunity to bring Scott Caldwell and Daigo Kobayashi off the bench will continue to serve as a luxury through the summer and beyond.

Stock down

Kei Kamara

Two weeks removed from one of his top performances in a Revolution uniform, Kamara failed to build on his momentum during a sub-par outing against RBNY. His core struggle stemmed from his inability to maintain possession; Kamara’s usually strong hold-up play eluded him, as he continually turned the ball over with inaccurate passes in the attacking third. In total, he connected on just 10 of his 22 pass attempts.

Sadly, Kamara’s finishing followed suit. He misfired on all three of his shot attempts, including a close-range opportunity that he pulled wide. Heaps ultimately subbed him off in the 65th minute.

The Sierra Leonean forward will look to get back on track Wednesday against an NYCFC side that has conceded just 16 goals this season, second fewest in the Eastern Conference.

Je-Vaughn Watson

After an uneven start to the season, Watson offered glimpses of his 2016 self on Saturday night. He made a few promising forays forward, executed a few key interventions and, for the most part, played clean passes out of the back.

Unfortunately, those positives did little to outweigh Watson’s struggles. In addition to picking up an early yellow card for persistent infringement, the Jamaican defender had a tough time keeping pace with Red Bulls attack. His biggest misstep occurred in the 46th minute, when he beat Kemar Lawrence to a through ball, only to have the RBNY defender push him off the ball and send a cross in front of goal. The pass set up an equalizer for Bradley Wright-Phillips, who took advantage of a misplay by Cody Cropper.

Though Watson impressed as a role-player-turned starter in 2016, he has yet to find his form this season.

All stats courtesy of WhoScored.com.