New England Revolution
New England’s first win of the season came thanks to a stoppage time winner from captain Carles Gil.
The Revolution got two crucial goals from captain Carles Gil — including a penalty kick deep into stoppage time — to achieve a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on a rainy afternoon at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.
It answered New England fans’ duel prayers of achieving not only a goal from an actual Revolution player (having only scored via own goal previously in 2025), but also the team’s first win of the season.
Granted, it merely takes the Revolution’s record to 1-3-1 on the season, still good enough for 13th place in the Eastern Conference. Yet it alleviates at least some of the pressure and negative energy that had been swirling around Foxborough, if only for a week.
Gil, New England’s 32-year-old playmaker, scored a sumptuous free kick in the 28th minute of the first half to give the home team the lead. New York managed an equalizer right at the end of the first half thanks to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting capping an effective Red Bulls counterattack, and the game remained deadlocked until a VAR review handed Gil and the Revolution a late chance from the penalty spot.
Calmly stepping up in front of nervous home supporters ensconced in The Fort, Gil sent Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel the wrong way to find the winning goal in the 97th minute.
Here are a few takeaways from a long-awaited first win:
It was a much better performance from New England’s attack.
More than any other issue, the team’s early defeats and lack of results could be chalked up to a corresponding lack of offense. The Revolution entered Saturday with a microscopic expected goals rate in the preceding four games (1.6 combined xG per FB Ref).
On Saturday, the Revolution exceeded the entire season’s worth of xG in a single performance. By the end of the game, New England’s xG was 2.09. And while “expected goals” as a statistic is not a singular marker of attacking prowess, it’s nonetheless a good indicator of basic chance-creation. From that standpoint, Saturday was a greatly improved showing.
Of course, no one is predicting an MLS Cup triumph just yet. It’s a single win, but a vital one in the context of New England’s tough start to the season.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” cautioned Revolution head coach Caleb Porter. “It’s a win. It’s great, the players’ confidence can bubble up a little bit. They leave with a good feeling. We get a couple goals, people stop talking about us for a week, and yet we have to go and get a result the next game too. It’s just one result.”
Revolution looked much more dangerous utilizing width.
For all of the deserved plaudits Gil received for his brace of goals on Saturday, he was not the most involved player in the game in terms of touches (as he normally is). That distinction belonged to right back Ilay Feingold.
Feingold, 20, has looked more comfortable in recent games on his favored right side, and was combative defensively while also offering dribbling and crossing capacities going forward. Mere involvement in the game (touches on the ball) is not always an indicator of importance (no one would argue he was more important in the win than Gil), but Feingold’s performance displayed Porter’s tactics — predicated on attacking from wide positions — working more effectively than in previous weeks.
On the left side, 17-year-old Peyton Miller returned from injury to make his 2025 debut. The Connecticut native looked dangerous in possession, charging to the end line to make cut-back crosses and also connect New England’s defense with the midfield and the attack.
Farther forward, both wingers — Luca Langoni on the right and Ignatius Ganago on the left — had productive days. Langoni possesses better speed than most of the defenders he will face, and showed it again against New York. In fact, New England arguably should’ve had additional goals from Ganago — multiple low crosses were served up to him with a clear lane to shoot — but the 26-year-old Cameroonian international was unable to finish on each occasion.
Still, Ganago kept hustling right into stoppage time, eventually getting his reward when he drew the penalty kick that Gil promptly converted to win the game.
The defensive press performed well, but dropped off in the second half.
While 34-year-old Maxi Urruti is not the usual first choice center forward — the Argentine is filling in for the injured Leo Campana — he displayed a refreshing capacity to not only contribute in the attack but also as a defender.
He made multiple steals, and was credited with six recoveries of possession per FotMob stats (third on the team behind Polster and Gil). While Urruti skied his best chance of the day (a volley off a deflected header to the back post on a free kick), his versatility was useful as New England looked to control the game, which remains a preferred Porter strategy.
“I think it’s coming along also for the press on the ball,” Gil said of the team’s improvement defensively. “We want to recover the ball [quickly] to do these attacks. I think we had a very good first half.
“Maybe the second half [it was] still similar,” Gil acknowledged of the team’s slowdown for much of the final 45 minutes. As was a tough trend in 2024, New England often struggled to recreate the same defensive intensity for a full 90 minutes. That seemed to be the case again on Saturday, with New York generating more chances.
Still, the Red Bulls were unable to notch a second goal, leaving the door open for late drama. Gil was happy to oblige when called upon to take the decisive penalty kick.
“We came back after halftime and we were not the team that we were [in the first half],” he admitted. “But in the end we suffered and [got] the penalty, so I think it was a win that we deserved.”
The Revolution will be back on the road next week, facing FC Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 5.
Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.