Saturday night’s match against D.C. United provided plenty of reasons to celebrate Carles Gil, and the league agreed, naming him to MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi.
Gil is no stranger to being included in the weekly best XI, earning his spot on the TOTM roster for the seventh time this season. The midfielder led the Revolution to a 2-0 win at Gillette Stadium with a goal and an assist, snapping a nine-game winless streak and claiming a crucial three points as they chase down playoff contention.
The tried-and-true captain sparked New England’s breakthrough against D.C. in the 62nd minute, delivering a pinpoint helper to Leo Campana, whose header opened the scoring. Only eight minutes later, Gil put the nail in the coffin, driving home a right-footed shot to seal the much-needed victory.
“I just can't say enough about Carles [Gil], because he's a top player and yet he's so humble. He's a team guy. We actually had some good conversations this week. Sometimes I've had top players, and you lose, and they can be tricky. But not him. He's just so professional and he has so much character, and he's such a team guy. That's just very rare,” head coach Caleb Porter said on Saturday night.
Contributing to multiple goals in a single game is always impressive, but for Gil, his goal and assist weren’t just highlights – they were historic. With that performance, he overtook Taylor Twellman (129) as the all-time leader in goal contributions (130) for the Revolution.
Gil continues to lead the scoring for New England this year with nine goals and nine assists on his tally. His Matchday 28 heroics marked the fourth time this season he made multiple goal contributions in a single night.
“It’s special to break the record. Like I’ve said many times, [Twellman] is a legend here in the club, in the league. I have more games [played] than him, I think, to break the record. But it’s a pleasure to have these words about him, and he’s a big legend,” said the ever-humble Gil.
While Gil left some time to be proud of the accomplishment postgame, he was more focused on the road ahead. As a true leader, he emphasized one thing – continuing to find wins and charging ahead to secure a playoff spot. With only nine games left in the season and eight points outside of contention, the Revs have a challenging task at hand.
For Gil, he understands the importance of every point and has no doubt that his team is capable.
“What’s happened, has happened. We need to come back every Monday, every Tuesday, train hard, think about the next game and give our best. And we need to do that together,” he explained. “We are coming from a very difficult run, having bad games. But like I said, maybe it’s an opportunity for this group to do something special and important, because if you ask everyone right now, no one is going to say New England is going to be in the playoffs. No one. So, it’s an opportunity. We need to take that opportunity and try to do it.”
The Revolution now look ahead to the fourth of a four-game homestand as they take on the West’s Los Angeles FC. New England will host the LA side and their newest signing, Son Heung-min, at 7:30 p.m. ET this Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
