FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Gillette Stadium is still a fortress and the New England Revolution made sure everyone felt it as they took down Minnesota United FC, 2-1, on Saturday night. With their seventh home win of the season – from eight attempts – Foxborough remains one of the league’s most unforgiving venues for visiting teams.
Saturday’s match also marked the final home game before the FIFA World Cup break, and the Revs were happy to deliver one last show for the home crowd before returning in July.
“It’s great. You always want to keep stacking up the wins. It’s especially important going into this break to get as many points as possible, but especially to win all our home games,” said Peyton Miller, who played all 90 minutes against the Western Conference team.
The Revolution were carried to victory yet again by the attacking brilliance of Carles Gil and Luca Langoni, the duo powering much of the team’s success this season. With nine goal contributions each, they top the stats for New England.
Just minutes into the match, Dor Turgeman drew a foul in the box, and the Revs knew just who to call. Gil stepped to the spot and opened the scoring for the Revolution in the fifth minute. Poised as ever, the captain put away his third penalty kick goal of the season and the 20th of his MLS career.
Minnesota answered 21 minutes later with a penalty of their own, but the Revs never wavered. Just four minutes into the second half, Langoni found the game winner, finishing an assist from Turgeman.
“I think that's what’s so important to this team right now. They're [Gil and Langoni] making a big, big difference,” said midfielder Alhassan Yusuf. “Every moment with them, they step up. I think it's really important the way they're going right now, and I hope they keep going.”
After suffering their first home loss of the season midweek against Nashville SC, the Revs entered Saturday determined to reset the tone. For head coach Marko Mitrović, it was that mentality he believes helped the Revs secure another three points.
“I spoke after the game on Wednesday on how the guys will respond to that defeat that we had. When we met on Thursday morning in the locker room, I saw a very hungry group that knew that we could have gotten a better outcome, and that was hungry to come and play tonight, and earn the win,” Mitrović explained. “I don't think there is a team in this league that will have an easy game against Minnesota. They will make games very difficult for every opponent and we knew that. I'm very happy with how we recovered both physically and mentally from the game on Wednesday and came tonight and earn our win.”
The Revs owned 52 percent of the possession over the Loons, a reflection of the aggressive, front‑foot style Mitrović has emphasized since his arrival. That identity is taking hold in New England, and the results have proven it. With Saturday’s win, the Revolution sit second in the Eastern Conference and have now claimed eight victories in their last 11 matches (8-2-1).
“Everything we do is relentless. Everything we do is with intensity, so I think we just take that mindset, and we put it into every single day that we train, every single day that we play games, and just keep going,” said Miller.
The Revs will hit the road one last time before the break, taking on Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium next Saturday night, where they’ll look to keep the momentum building.
