Revolution v. FC Dynamo Kyiv: Three thoughts

The New England Revolution won their first game of the 2019 preseason when they topped FC Dynamo Kyiv 3-1 on Wednesday.

The Revs were down a goal at halftime, but Juan Agudelo, Carles Gil, and Diego Fagundez led the Revs to a second half comeback. Here are thee thoughts from the game, which wasn’t streamed.

1. Everyone needs to see Diego’s goal. Fagundez had a moment of brilliance in the 87th minute when he megged a defender before putting a cheeky shot past the goalkeeper. It’s a play that should appear on the the attacker’s highlight reel for years to come. Taking nothing away from it, I do think it’s worth recognizing the player that put Fagunez 1v1. Gil had excellent awareness to use one-touch to put the ball in front of teammate. Moments like that should get fans excited about 2019.
2. Speaking of excitement, Edgar Castillo and Cristian Penilla are going to create havoc on the left. Penilla had a breakout 2018, as he grabbed 12 goals and seven assists while largely playing on the left flank. Expect more productivity from that side of the field since Castillo likes to get forward. Although we’ve only seen highlights so far, I like the idea of Castillo overlapping on the outside or making a diagonal run inside. These types of runs will be hard to track and will surely lead to goal-scoring opportunities.
3. Matt Turner should be the starting goalkeeper. Turner started 2018 as an unknown but soon earned league-wide recognition for his shot stopping. A mid-season dip in form led to Brad Friedel replacing Turner with Brad Knighton. Turner regained his starting spot in the season’s finale. Yesterday’s game served as proof that the young netminder is ready for a stellar 2019. The 24-year-old made several big saves, one of which was a penalty. Sure, the PK was at least partially his fault because he misplayed a back pass, but I’m chalking that up to preseason rust. I fully expect Turner to be between the sticks on opening day.