Saturday night was quite a coming out party for the New England Revolution’s Gambian pair, Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi, says the Boston Globe’s Frank Dell’Apa. The 19-year-olds each played a part in the Revs’ 3-0 thumping of 2007 MLS champ Houston, and will likely retain their starting spot for Thursday’s visit to Chicago. Nyassi started on the right in place of the injured Wells Thompson, while Mansally, as expected, started up front, alongside Adam Cristman, who was a last minute replacement for the injured Taylor Twellman.
Both players contributed to the move that led to Steve Ralston’s opener in the 16th minute — a rebound from a Mansally shot — but Nyassi alone carved out a spectacular third for New England in stoppage time. He had a monster game down the right, terrorizing the Dynamo with his speed and dribbling all game long.
“He does it all the time in training,” Revolution coach Steve Nicol said of Nyassi. “But the test really comes in the next game. Is this a one-off, can you produce at the next level? He will realize every night is not like [Saturday] night. But I’m sure he’ll get better and better.”