New England Revolution coach Caleb Porter had a difficult conversation with Emmanuel Boateng in the days leading up to Saturday’s match against the New York Red Bulls.
Boateng came into the match with nine appearances this season and one assist.
“I told him he needed to be better,” Porter said.
With the match still scoreless on Saturday in the 69th minute, Boateng was subbed on for Ian Harkes. Twelve minutes later, Boateng gave Porter what he, and the team, needed.
From the left side of the penalty box, Boateng got on the end of a cross from Carles Gil and slotted the ball into the back of the net to give New England the lead. The Revolution locked down on defense in the match’s final minutes to earn a win at home and a second-straight win for the first time this season.
“I’m proud of (Boateng),” Porter said. “It’s a great example of why you have to have the right mentality, whether you’re starting or coming off the bench … we needed a little spark, and Ema came in and found that spark … obviously our first home win in a while, and that’s important.”
New England came into the match in last place in the Eastern Conference and had not won a match at home since April 6 against Charlotte. The win improves the team’s record to 4-1-10.
New York is second in Major League Soccer this season in clearances and No. 7 in goal differential.
Porter knew Saturday’s match was going to be up and down, but he also had a lot of confidence in his team’s defense.
“(Red Bull is) always a tough team to play,” Porter said. “It’s never going to be the cleanest. You’ve got to battle. … I thought we won the game today because we defended well from start to finish. For me, there was never a question that there was going to be a clean sheet today. And I believe that with the group we have that we will, if it’s a clean sheet, find a goal. There have been some games this year where it’s been 0-0 and we don’t find the goal, and we give up the goal. I was really proud of our defensive performance today, and that’s not just a goalkeeper in the backline, it’s everybody. Everybody dug in and battled in a difficult game.”
New England’s next match is on June 17 at home against Vancouver.
