New England Revolution 3 New York Red Bulls 2: 3 Thoughts

The New England Revolution after playing NYCFC in Red Bull Arena played the New York Red Bulls at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night.

Of course with a mid-week match, there was some squad rotation as Henry Kessler, Teal Bunbury, and Tajon Buchanan entered the staring XI with Arnór Traustason, Jon Bell, and Maciel heading to the bench.

New England was looking to extend their home record to 5-0-0 for the first time in club history.

So what do you need to know about Wednesday’s matchup? Here are three thoughts.

1 - Tajon Buchanan is for real

After a breakout 2020 season, fans might have wondered if Tajon Buchanan could maintain a high level of play. It’s safe to say that the answer is yes.

Buchanan was one of the few players to have a good performance from the start of the game. As he usually does, the winger was drawing fouls and making life very difficult for the opposition with his pace.

You can also see the confidence that the Canadian plays the game with when he is on the ball. Early on in the game, Buchanan attempted to nutmeg a Red Bulls defender and while he was unsuccessful he was still able to make something out of the play.

Buchanan’s great start culminated in a beautiful goal to give New England a 1-0 lead (we will talk soon about the man who assisted on the goal).

A lot of the focus is on Matt Turner when it comes to the Gold Cup, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Buchanan get the call-up as well. The 22-year-old has two goals and two assists this season and has shown that he is the real deal.

No wonder European teams seem to be interested in him.

2 - Carles Gil is an assist machine

New England Revolution fans should be thanking their lucky stars that they get to witness Carles Gil. He is on pace for a record-breaking season.

At the end of the day, New England can always rely on him to make an impact. There is no doubt that he is one of the best players in MLS.

Gil had three assists on the night and per usual created the most chances in the match. He extended his assist total on the season to 10.

These are some truly unbelievable numbers. Only three players in MLS history have reached 20 assists and Gil is halfway there with more than 20 games left in the season.

Also, the single-season assist record appears to be in play for Gil. He is on pace to break the current record held by Carlos Valderrama.

While assist might not be as flashy as goals, Gil seems to be making quite the case for the 2021 MVP Award.

3 - La Pantera wakes from his slumber

When I say that Gustavo Bou woke up, I’m not saying he has had a bad season, but the first half wasn’t his best performance. Bou only had 16 touches which was the lowest on the team.

But thanks to a beautiful ball from Gil, Bou found himself on the attack with a 1-on-1 opportunity between him and NYRB goalkeeper Carlos Miguel. Bou made the most of the opportunity chipping the ball into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

Adam Buksa got off to a great start up top but has been relegated to the bench. Bou has taken advantage of being in the starting XI and has seemed to cement his spot now that he has tied Buksa and shares the team lead in goals.

With the win, New England continues to maintain the top spot in the Eastern Conference and it doesn’t look like they will give it up anytime soon.