For the first time in his MLS career, Mamadou Fofana has earned a spot on the league’s best XI for the week. The defender was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi following his performance in New England’s win over the Columbus Crew on Matchday 30 this past Saturday night.
It was an important result for the Revolution, who are on the hunt for playoff contention heading into the final stretch of the season. Fofana played a major role in securing the 2-1 win for New England, not just defensively, but on the attack, as well.
The center back logged his first MLS assist in the 39th minute, sending a ball from half-field to Ignatius Ganago, who raced behind the Crew backline. It was a perfectly slotted pass, which allowed the Cameroonian attacker to put the ball away with his first touch, giving the Revs a 2-0 lead before the half.
Leo Campana, who scored New England’s first goal in Columbus, was happy to see the link-up between the two ends of the pitch and spoke highly of the backline’s leading men.
“It’s important, obviously, to connect with them. They’re really good guys, they’re really good players. I’m really happy for Mamadou [Fofana], for Brayan [Ceballos] also,” he said following the match.
Perhaps more important for Fofana than helping his teammates score, was making sure they maintained the lead against the Crew. New England have struggled at times to see out games this season, but after conceding in the 71st minute, Fofana and the backline showed resilience to lock down the lead. For head coach Caleb Porter, it was the players’ ability to dig in at 2-1 that gave him the most pride following the match, and it was on the defense that he was especially impressed.
“We really liked those two, Brayan [Ceballos] and Mamadou [Fofana]. We wanted to rebuild our backline. In that starting XI, I believe it’s nine new guys. Maybe it’s eight, if you don’t count Peyton [Miller]. So, it’s a lot of new guys. I told the staff this week, ‘We’re starting to look like the vision I had,’” explained Porter.
Fofana has played nearly every minute of his 25 appearances with the Revolution this season and is expected to continue making an impact as New England head into the last seven games of the season.
With red-hot Charlotte FC next up at Gillette Stadium this Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET), New England have a bit of momentum to find more points as they try to move up the Eastern Conference table toward playoff possibilities.
