New England Revolution

3 takeaways from the Revolution’s 1-0 loss vs. New York City FC

Despite looking good for periods of the night, New England was once again unable to produce a goal (or a positive result).

By Hayden Bird

May 26, 2024

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The Revolution bested New York City FC in virtually every major statistical measurement on Saturday at Gillette Stadium, with the conspicuous exception of the scoreline in a 1-0 loss.

The defeat, New England’s third in a row (and sixth in the last seven games), was a thoroughly disappointing result from head coach Caleb Porter’s perspective, given that the performance was comparatively good. Yet whatever the aesthetics — and however promising New England’s buildup play may have looked for periods of the game — the lack of goal-scoring combined yet again with a momentary defensive lapse in the 81st minute to complete the latest setback.

New York midfielder Keaton Parks briefly detached himself from the role of Carles Gil antagonist just long enough to get on the end of a Tayvon Gray cross, nodding home the winning goal from a relatively unmarked position at the back post. It proved enough for the visitors, who are now the inverse of New England over the last seven (6-1-0).

Here are a few takeaways from an almost-good-but-still-ultimately-bad night at Gillette Stadium:

After a bad start, New England settled into some nice patterns of play.

The Starting XI announcement brought excitement when it was revealed that both Tomas Chancalay and Dylan Borrero were included for New England. It marked the first time the two dynamic wingers featured in the same lineup. Porter undoubtedly hoped that finally, months after his first game in charge, he might actually get to see arguably his best attacking lineup play for at least 45 minutes.

Unfortunately, it was not to be, as Chancalay had to exit after just 11 minutes when he picked up a knee injury while committing a foul against New York’s Santiago Rodriguez. The extent of the injury wasn’t established immediately following the game, with Porter saying only in the postgame press conference that he “didn’t think it’s too bad, but we would never take him out unless he had to come out.”

That Chancalay was hurt while dolling out a foul was sadly characteristic of the Revolution’s involvement over the first 20 minutes. New York started better, evading tackles and generating the game’s first four shots (nearly scoring virtually straight from the kickoff).

After the opening period, however, New England settled in as Chancalay’s replacement, Esmir Bajraktarevic, found traction with the starters.

Borrero and Gil looked brightest, combining on several occasions to create a flurry of chances. The 22-year-old Borrero, still building his way back from the ACL injury that derailed his 2023 season, looks better each game. His positional sense — drifting into the middle of the field from the left wing to pick up passes from Gil between the lines — looked especially promising.

Yet due to a variety of factors, including one or two missed passing opportunities from Bajraktarevic as well as a squandered Giacomo Vrioni chance in the 37th minute off a great through-ball from Gil, the Revolution were unable to find a breakthrough.

The inability to punish New York for sitting deep felt ominous as the game moved into the latter stages of the second half.

One defensive lapse was all it took.

In a league where margins are already extraordinarily slim, coupled with the Revolution’s current aversion to scoring goals (New England is currently on pace to have one of the worst goal-differential margins in MLS history), any momentary slip-up will prove costly.

That’s exactly what happened in the 81st minute when Gray found space on the right from a deeper position and swung a cross into the box. A collective failure from substitute Emmanuel Boateng (to close down Gray), and New England’s back-line (to not properly mark Parks) had predictable results.

After the play, center back Xavier Arreaga and right back Nick Lima could be seen exchanging words about who was at fault, though perhaps someone in New England’s midfield should have been tracking back to account for Parks (a fellow midfielder) drifting forward. At the time the cross was delivered, New York had more outfield players in the center of the box than New England did defending its own goal.

Given the myriad problems, it’s hard to focus too much time on any one aspect of the Revolution’s frustrating start to the season, but poor marking has been a fundamentally consistent theme.

Giacomo Vrioni is running out of time to prove he’s the answer at striker.

While Porter has expressed on multiple occasions that he appreciates Vrioni’s attitude and approach, the lack of goal-scoring is difficult to look past. The 25-year-old Italian-Albanian has totaled nine goals in 48 MLS appearances since signing in New England in 2022. He’s averaging one goal every 272 minutes played, far from the rate needed for a player of his importance.

On Saturday, he managed just 14 touches before being subbed for Bobby Wood in the 82nd minute. It was telling that Porter swapped him for Wood after New York scored. When chasing a goal, the New England head coach seems increasingly less confident in his striker (and frankly, with good reason).

Admirable as Vrioni’s continued hustle is — no one has questioned his work rate — he produced little to show for his efforts. When Gil fed him a world-class pass in the 37th minute to put him on a breakaway, Vrioni wasn’t even able to manage a shot. And when he did maneuver the ball into shooting range, he missed more than he put on target (of five shots, only two were on net).

For a player who currently commands the second-highest salary on the team (behind only Gil), Vrioni needs to step up and be a difference-maker sooner rather than later.