COLUMBUS, OH. - The New England Revolution earned three points and an important boost of momentum on Sunday night in Columbus, taking down the Crew 3-1 in their first of a four-game road stretch. The victory marked their second straight road win and third straight triumph over Columbus Crew dating back to last season.
The Revs went down early at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field after Columbus’ Brais Méndez scored in the eighth minute, but comeback wins are nothing new for New England – especially against the Crew. Earlier this season at Gillette Stadium, the Revs rallied for a 2-1 victory over Columbus after going down first. On Sunday, they responded even more emphatically, outshooting the Crew 21-7 and getting goals from three different scorers.
Matt Polster pulled the Revs level in the 32nd minute, scoring his first goal of the season after Mamadou Fofana nodded Carles Gil’s corner into his path. The secondary assist marked Gil’s first contribution of the night, as the midfield maestro would go on to play a part in all three of New England’s goals.
“People always look at Carles through goals and assists. I understand, because people got used to Carles creating great numbers in terms of assists and goals. But I’ve said many times, we are not here to create numbers for Carles. Carles is here to help us, but we as a team get numbers, and I think Carles is very aware of that,” explained head coach Marko Mitrović following the match. “The team trusts him so much in all those moments where there is adversity on the field, where we need someone to put their foot on the ball, and when we need someone the team trusts. You can just see the players organically play the ball to Carles, and he gives us that calmness, he gives us that confidence, he gives us that belief.”
The Revolution took the lead nine minutes later as Jack Harrison connected with Gil, who slipped the ball through to Dor Turgeman for a rocket in the 41st minute. It was Turgeman’s second goal in two games and Harrison’s sixth assist of the season, contributing to a goal in every appearance he’s had for the Revolution.
New England entered the second half ahead, but weren’t completely out of the woods until Gil delivered a goal of his own in the 79th minute. The Spaniard produced a moment of magic, lofting a cheeky chip into the upper corner of the net and putting the nail in the coffin in Columbus.
Gil’s standout performance brought his career total to over 150 regular season goal contributions, making him just the 20th player in league history to reach that mark. In true Gil fashion, he was more focused on the team’s accomplishments than his own.
“We are improving and are much better, our performance, every game. We are one of the best teams in the league right now, in my opinion,” he said. “We are playing many games away. It’s always difficult. We love to play at home, but the whole idea is to be the same team at home and away. So, I think we are proving that. In the last month, month and a half, we are playing better away, as at home. Now, we want to continue like this. We have a difficult game in LA, but we want to be in these top-three or top-four places, so we want to win.”
The Revs continue their road swing out West on Saturday against LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park. Now 3-5-2 away from home and sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference, New England will look to continue improving their road form in Los Angeles.
