New England Revolution head coach, Bruce Arena expressed satisfaction with the performance of Ghanaian forward Ema Boateng in the club’s 2-1 win over New York City in the Major League Soccer.
Boateng was handed a rare start and he made the most of it by scoring the equaliser that propelled Eastern Conference leaders to secure a come from behind victory. It was Boateng’s third start of the season and has now played over 250 minutes.
“He hasn’t played that much, but he has, over the last month, been able to contribute,” said Arena. “Obviously, the goal tonight was a big goal. He hasn’t played that much, so we’re careful with his minutes.”
It was interesting to see Boateng end up leaving the match at halftime. He was performing well but Arena decided to take him out. According to the coach, that was the plan all along.
“We were bringing Carles [Gil] in at halftime and someone had to come out,” Arena said.
“And out of the midfield, it was either going to be Wilfrid [Kaptoum] or Ema [Emmanuel Boateng] and I thought Wilfrid was a little bit fresher. But Ema’s doing a good job and hopefully, he can continue to move forward in an important time of the year as we close out the season and have the playoffs.”
The 27-year-old despite the limited game time has scored two goals.
Credit: MLS
