Soccer Confidential: As Cristian Penilla goes, so does New England’s offense

Cristian Penilla celebrates scoring against the Chicago Fire. (Keith Nordstrom/New England Revolution)

Teal Bunbury has not only been the Revolution’s leading scorer (11 goals), but has keyed the team’s pressing tactics and kept the team balanced up front. However, the Revolution’s best attacking weapon has been Cristian Penilla (10 goals), whose one-on-one threat and penchant for trivelas have provided both highlights and results.

Without Penilla’s play on the left wing, the Revolution likely would have fallen out of playoff contention this month. They are close to being out of it, anyway, trailing sixth-place Montreal by five points with five games remaining. The Revolution (8W-10L-11D, 35 points) have won only once in 12 games since June 30.

The Revs' hopes have been salvaged during this close-to-winless stretch thanks to Penilla’s performance in a 1-0 victory at New York City FC on Sept. 5 and a 2-2 home draw with the Chicago Fire last Saturday.