Revolution fall to D.C United 3-1 in season opener
The New England Revolution (0-1-0; 0 pts) fell to D.C. United, 3-1, on Saturday night at Audi Field in the 2024 MLS season opener. The Revolution went down to 10 men in the first half when forward Giacomo Vrioni was dismissed following a second yellow card. After entering the halftime intermission down 1-0, Carles Gil knotted the score with the club’s first goal of the new MLS campaign with a curling effort from distance in the 67th minute. The hosts sealed the victory with a pair of second-half goals from striker Christian Benteke, who netted all three tallies for D.C. United.
Head Coach Caleb Porter, managing his first league contest with New England, made three changes to his Starting XI from Wednesday’s win in Leg 1 of Round One of the Concacaf Champions Cup. A pair of Homegrown midfielders collected starts tonight in Arlington, Mass. native Noel Buck and winger Esmir Bajraktarević. In his 88-minute performance, Bajraktarević earned a game-high seven fouls. Veteran center back Jonathan Mensah made his Revolution debut on the backline, while goalkeeper Henrich Ravas made his MLS debut tonight.
Gil highlighted tonight’s match with a MLS Goal of the Week candidate, curling the ball into the top left corner of the net to pull New England level. The 2021 MLS MVP guided New England’s attack with three shots on goal in tonight’s contest. Midfielder Matt Polster collected the assist on the tally.
New England returns home for two games next week. First, on Thursday, Feb. 29, New England welcomes CA Independiente to Foxborough for the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round One tie, with New England leading 1-0 on aggregate. The 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff airs nationally on FS2 in English and TUDN in Spanish. Then, on Sunday, March 3, the Revolution will host Toronto FC for the club’s 2024 MLS home opener. The 2:00 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium is available to watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English, Spanish, and French.
Listen to the Revolution’s local radio calls on 98.5 The Sports Hub, with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies on the call, and 1260 AM “Nossa Radio USA” in Portuguese.
