Revolution net first league victory
Gil tallies lone goal in 1-0 win over Charlotte FC in Foxboro
FOXBORO >> The New England Revolution put an end to a bad beginning on a raw, rainy Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
The Revolution notched their first MLS win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Charlotte FC before a sparse crowd at the end of the three-game homestand.
Revolution captain Carles Gil scored the lone goal in stoppage time at the end of the first half while firstyear goalkeeper Henrich Ravas made two stops to record his first clean sheet against an MLS opponent.
“It was relief to get the first win in the league, it has been a long three months,” said Revolution first-year head coach Caleb Porter. “The guys were hungry today and it wasn’t perfect, but we had a simple plan, defend well and get a clean sheet and find the first goal.”
The Revolution played the second of arduous stretch of four games in 12 days with a positive result. The Revolution will likely conclude their Concacaf Champions Cup run on Tuesday night when they engage Liga MX powerhouse Club America in the second leg of a homeand-home quarterfinal series at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Club America beat the Revolution 4-0 in the opening leg on April 2 at Gillette.
The Revolution begin a two-game MLS road swing when they encounter New York City FC on Saturday night (7:30) at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
“There will be guys that haven’t played that much and some young guys and as we look long term with this roster,” said Porter, referring to the Champions Cup match. “We’ll still go for it and think it will be exciting to see some new guys in there.”
Porter had his A-list Starting XI on the pitch with only a few alterations to the squad that began the leg one game against Club America. The most significant switch was going with Ravas in the cage in place of veteran Earl Edwards Jr., who started the last two games.
Ravas made two plays, one fantastic and the other fortunate, in the opening six minutes of the match. Ravas made a diving stop and a line drive from the top of the box by attacker Liel Abada in the fifth minute.
On Charlotte’s next probe, Ravas inexplicably gave the ball away to attacker Patick Agyemang while setting up a goal kick in the penalty area. Agyemang had a sight line on the open goal but fired the ball into the side of the net.
“It’s a funny sport and I don’t think we have gotten many breaks but I thought we got a few breaks this game and we were fortunate early in the game,” said Porter.
The Revolution attack gained traction at the 20th minute and had two solid scoring chances off crossing passes to striker Giacomo Vrioni miss by inches. Vrioni skied high and headed a cross that just missed the near post. On a second cross from Tomas Chancalay, Vrioni’s header hit the crossbar.
“It hasn’t been easy for him (Vrioni), he’s been under pressure as a DP and a striker and the supporters want goals, I want goals,” said Porter.
Carles Gil picked up his third yellow card in stoppage time a minute before scoring his third goal of the season. Carles Gil led a transition breakout and dished to his brother Nacho Gil, who had his shot blocked just inside box. Carles Gil got the rebound and fired curl off his left foot that beat CFC keeper Kristijan Kahlina to make it 1-0 before the break.
“That was a great finish out of him and I thought he a really good game and he was back to being Carles,” said Porter.
Charlotte FC outplayed the Revolution in the second half but failed to net the equalizer. Charlotte had two corner kicks in stoppage time.