New England Revolution 1 - D.C. United 0: 3 thoughts

The New England Revolution faced off against Wayne Rooney’s D.C. United and left Gillette Stadium with three points.

New England’s roster was basically a hospital room as five players missed the action. Gustavo Bou, Giacomo Vrioni, Dylan Borrero, Matt Polster, and Maciel. That meant that the Revs played a second-hand starting XI.

Justin Rennicks started up top and Damian Rivera also went into the starting XI. Rennicks received his third consecutive start. Brandon Bye also got his 125th MLS appearance and eclipsed 10,000 minutes.

The Revolution lineup was quite defensive as Rennicks was the lone striker on the match-day squad. Esmir Bajaktarevic and Noel Buck were the lone “attacking” options on the bench. Buck made his MLS debut coming on for Damian Rivera in the 63rd minute.

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

1 - Century mark

It was a special occasion as Bruce Arena coached his 100th regular season MLS match for the Revs. Arena boasts a 46-22-32 record after tonight and has been a great addition to New England’s sideline.

Along with bringing in the likes of Gustavo Bou, Adam Buksa, and Matt Polster. Most importantly, Arena was a major part of the Revs taking home the Supporters’ Shield in 2021.

Arena will go down as the best coach in MLS. He has the most wins and also the best winning percentage. Arena also has the most wins in MLS Cup Playoff history.

The Revs franchise is in a much better position than it once was and Arena deserves a lot of credit for that being the case.

2 - T is for team

It didn’t take too long for New England to open their scoring account on Saturday. Carles Gil slotted home his fifth goal of the season but that wasn’t the highlight of the play.

Tommy McNamara started the attack with a beautiful chip to find Brandon Bye. Bye went on the ball and while falling down sent the perfect pass to the captain who gave New England the lead. It was McNamara’s fourth assist of the season and Bye’s sixth of the season.

What was most impressive is how New England was able to get in behind the defense and get Gil into space. If the Revolution are able to do this now, imagine what could happen once Vrioni, Bou, and Borrero return to the starting XI.

3 - Once again I have to talk about Petrovoz

I know I’ve mentioned it basically every game but Petrovic continues to bail the Revs out. On Saturday night he continued to make amazing saves and maintain New England’s lead. Petrovic also came up big late in the game making a fingertip save in the 79th minute.

Petrovic recorded his fifth clean sheet in just 11 games. He has truly lived up to the hype and then some this season.

The goalkeeper has been Bruce Arena’s best acquisition this season. He will be yet another player that New England sells back to Europe for a premium price and his time in MLS could be quite short.

With the win, New England is currently in seventh place and has 33 points on the season. The Revs won’t have to wait long to utilize their momentum as they head to Canada to play Toronto FC on Wednesday.