FOXBOROUGH, MA– The New England Revolution (4-1-1, 13 pts.) tied New York City FC (2-2-2, 8pts.) in a 1-1 match on Saturday night.
The match kicked off at 7:30 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts to a crowd of 18,521.
March 31, 2023; Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA; The New England Revolution starting XI versus New York City FC at Gillette Stadium. (c) Rick Wilson
The team started their lineup in a 4-1-2-1-2 narrow formation with Đorđe Petrović starting in net with a backline of (left back) DeJuan Jones, (center backs) Dave Romney and Henry Kessler, along with (right back) Brandon Bye. The midfield consisted of Christian Makoun (center defensive midfield), Jack Panayotou (left central midfield), Noel Buck (right central midfield) and Carles Gil (center attacking midfield). The forward roles were manned by (left) Gustavo Bou and (right) Bobby Wood.
Saturday’s match featured two teenagers in the starting 11 for the New England Revolution, midfielder Jack Panayotou (18) made his second career MLS start, and midfielder Noel Buck (17) started his sixth consecutive match for 2023.
Captain Carles Gil returned to the starting XI following his return from a hamstring injury.
▪️ Carles Gil makes 1st start since March 4
▪️ Makoun makes 1st start of '23 (Polster out w/ illness)
▪️ Blessing remains out
▪️ Borrero available on bench after int'l duty
▪️ Panayotou makes 2nd straight start
▪️ Buck makes 6th straight start#NERevs https://t.co/v3BRohLjB9— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) April 1, 2023
The match began with the Revolution starting with the midfield kickoff with the ball passed straight back to Carles Gil who sent the ball back to center back Dave Romney who looked to build out of the back to start the match.
A quiet first 15 minutes came and went to start the match with not much action for either of the sides.
Take a seat. pic.twitter.com/h4Jo42khEs
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 2, 2023
During the buildout play in the 16th minute, defender Brandon Bye put NYCFC’s #3 Cufre on ice skates as a turn to go up the right flank of the field which ended the attacking play by winning a corner kick for the squad.
In the ensuing corner kick, midfielder Carles Gil found Gustavo Bou at the back post, but he was quickly apprehended by the NYCFC defense. Just one minute later, Bou had the first shot on target which was saved by NYCFC goalkeeper #1 Luis Barraza.
March 31, 2023; Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA; Midfielder Carles Gil and forward Gustavo Bou stand over a freekick versus New York City FC at Gillette Stadium. (c) Rick Wilson
In the 29th minute, New England had a freekick on the left side of the field, just outside of the penalty area. Gustavo Bou and Carles Gil stood over the ball, and Bou was the one to take the ball which flew just inches over the bar.
In the 32nd minute, NYCFC defender #35 Mitja Ilenic entered the referee’s booklet as he received a yellow card for holding Carles Gil’s jersey as he began a New England counterattack.
With little to no action, the first half ended with the scoreline of 0-0.
Scoreless at the half.#NERevs | @SantanderBankUS pic.twitter.com/mXeoEWcb7h
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 2, 2023
Entering the second half, New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena made his first change of the match substituting midfielder Jack Panayotou for midfielder Dylan Borrero. It is his first match back with New England since March 18th, as he was out on international duty with his native Colombia.
The second half began with the NYCFC starting with the midfield kickoff with the ball being sent back to the midfielder and out to the left side of their own defensive third, similar to how the Revolution began the match.
In the 50th minute, NYCFC had their first major chance of the evening as #6 James Sands had a lovely bit of skill which found #19 Gabriel Segal who then laid the ball back off to #6 Sands, who played it out left to #3 Braian Cufre whose left footed shot ended up being a routine save by New England keeper Đorđe Petrović.
Just 1 minute later, New England earned a freekick from roughly 30 yards out which captain midfielder Carles Gil stepped up to take the kick. His left footed effort required an outstretched touch save by #1 Luis Barraza which then struck the post. Unfortunately, the linesman on the left side of the field did not see the save by Barraza, and the center official called for a goal kick.
Seven minutes later, NYCFC had yet another attack as #10 Santiago Rodriguez found #43 Talles Magno whose effort inside the Revolution penalty area ended up being tipped wide by New England keeper Đorđe Petrović for a corner kick. The corner kick was then unsuccessful for NYCFC and cleared by Kessler.
You’re confused, I’m confused, we’re all confused. pic.twitter.com/oFD5D9eKgS
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 2, 2023
Three minutes after NYCFC’s chance, New England had thought they struck first. In the 60th minute, midfielder Dylan Borrero with fancy footwork took a shot that was headed by #35 Mitja Ilenic back into his own net. The linesman on the left side of the field had called an offside on forward Gustavo Bou who was in an offside position as he deemed that Gustavo Bou was blocking the view of NYCFC goalkeeper #1 Luis Barraza when the shot was taken. The call went to VAR and was shockingly deemed NO GOAL.
Carles Gil slots it home and @NERevolution take the lead! pic.twitter.com/4EsayYXy3q
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 2, 2023
In the 69th minute, New England struck first. Following an interception by midfielder Noel Buck, he passed the ball forward to find Bobby Wood who one-touched the ball back to midfielder Carles Gil. Following the pass, Gil took 2 touches and past various NYCFC defenders and took a left-footed shot that snuck into the bottom right-hand corner past NYCFC goalkeeper #1 Luis Barraza.
The goal for Carles Gil is his 27th for the club, which moves him to T-14 in all-time in club scoring, leveling him with Wolde Harris (2000-03).
Just 2 minutes later following an interception from Bobby Wood, Dylan Borrero found Gustavo Bou on a breakaway versus #13 Thiago Martins. Bou’s right footed effort went unfortunately wide of the right post.
In the 73rd minute, Head Coach Bruce Arena made his second substitution of the match as he substituted forward Bobby Wood for forward Jozy Altidore.
In the 74th minute, NYCFC had a freekick opportunity on the right flank of the field which was sent in by #10 Santiago Rodriguez. His effort into the six-yard box found #13 Thiago Martins and his header was saved by outstretched New England goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović to keep the scoreline 1-0.
Talles Magno! ?
This one's level at 1-1. pic.twitter.com/YDhGT8Gk7V
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 2, 2023
Just five minutes later, NYCFC leveled the scoreline. In the 80th minute, #11 Gabriel Pereira’s corner kick entered the area and found #43 Talles Magno who managed to get by both Henry Kessler and Dave Romney to head the ball past Petrović.
Six minutes later, in the 86th minute, Head Coach Bruce Arena made his third substitution of the match as he substituted defensive midfielder Christian Makoun out for midfielder Emmanuel Boateng.
Four minutes later, in the 90th minute, Arena made his fourth and final substitution of the match as he substituted midfielder Noel Buck out for defender Andrew Farrell.
We each take a point.#NERevs | @SantanderBankUS pic.twitter.com/DwW6LQbzuU
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 2, 2023
The match had little to no action following that and ended with the New England Revolution and New York City FC settling for a 1-1 finish.
Following the match, Head Coach Bruce Arena criticized the officials for the decision of disallowing the first goal of the night and stated, “not allowing that goal was completely ridiculous. VAR is supposed to correct mistakes, not create them. That’s completely absurd, the explanation for that. It’s ridiculous, we’re wasting our time even discussing it. They’ll come back and they’ll give an explanation on why their call was correct and it’s completely wrong in the eyes of anyone involved in the sport.”.
As @TommyQuinlan_IV tweeted, I asked Bruce about Giacomo Vrioni not playing and Arena told me to “get that out of my head.” Video is below #NERevs pic.twitter.com/6wrkIBEywd
— Sam Minton (@Sam_Minton22) April 2, 2023
Along with the criticization of the officials, Arena pushed away questions asked regarding designated player Forward Giacomo Vrioni not appearing in the match.
On an important point, defender Andrew Farrell made his 2023 debut following his late substitution into the match. He had been dealing with an injury throughout preseason and missed the first 5 games of the season and will now look to attempt to regain a starting place in the Revolution squad.
The New England Revolution (4-1-1, 13 pts.) remain home in Foxborough to face CF Montreal (1-0-4, 3 pts.) at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, April 8. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.
(Editor’s Note: For more of Rick Wilson’s photos, click on the link)
New England Revolution
New York City FC
