New England Revolution

3 takeaways from the Revolution’s 2-1 over Atlanta United

With Carles Gil once again out, Giacomo Vrioni stepped up to provide both goals in an important win for New England.

By Hayden Bird

July 3, 2024

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The Revolution shrugged off the weekend defeat against Columbus with an up-and-down 2-1 win over Atlanta United on Wednesday night.

A pair of goals from center forward Giacomo Vrioni was enough to see off the visitors, who grabbed a late goal of their own from Daniel Rios to force a few tense moments in stoppage time before New England officially clinched the win.

Caleb Porter’s team has now won five of the last six, and — having occupied the bottom spot in the Eastern Conference for multiple months — are now just two points off of the playoff line (currently held by Atlanta).

Here are a few takeaways:

The first half contained flashes of brilliance and overall dominance.

The Revolution entered the night playing without team captain Carles Gil, who missed his second straight game with what the team has called a “lower leg” injury. Porter said afterward that he hopes to have Gil back next week, but that he’s doubtful to play in the team’s next game in Seattle on Saturday.

New England did get one of their plethora of injured players back in winger Dylan Borrero. The talented 22-year-old Colombian was the game’s most involved player over the first 45 minutes in terms of touches on the ball, and helped the Revolution’s buildup play in the midfield as well as providing explosive attacks down the left wing.

Like New England, Atlanta was also missing their star player. Thiago Almada, who is reportedly in the process of negotiating his exit from the club (potentially swapping settings for Botafogo in Brazil), did not feature for Atlanta. In fact, neither player who scored in Atlanta’s 4-1 win from the two teams’ earlier matchup in March was available on Saturday (as forward Giorgos Giakoumakis, scorer of a hat-trick in the earlier game, has since left Atlanta for Liga MX side Cruz Azul).

While United were able to generate some opportunities via wing backs Caleb Wiley and Brooks Lennon, it was New England who created the better chances (with Vrioni converting to give his team a 2-0 lead at the break).

Utilizing an effective press on defense and quick combination passing in midfield, the Revolution were the protagonists for most of the first 45 minutes. New England completed 33 percent more passes in Atlanta’s half of the field (117) than their own (78), indicative of the fact that they played much of the opening half on the front foot.

Giacomo Vrioni again displayed incredible talent. Consistency remains elusive.

Vrioni, New England’s 25-year-old striker, was the team’s only Designated Player on the field on Wednesday (with both Gil and Tomas Chancalay out).

And on a night when the Revolution needed Vrioni to step up, he did more than that. His first goal, which began from a vertical pass via DeJuan Jones, was created from a dazzling dribbling sequence in which he split two Atlanta defenders before cooly tucking his finish in at the near post past former U.S. international Brad Guzan.

The second goal spoke more to New England’s collective quality in the first half. Following a prolonged sequence camped out in Atlanta’s half of the field, the Revolution collected a loose ball in midfield and proceeded to link several passes together. After moving the ball from one side of the field to the other (and then back again), Noel Buck curled a perfect cross from the right wing to the back post where Vrioni snuck in. The Italian-Albanian applied a deft finish for his second of the night, and Revolution fans were jubilant.

Still, as easy as it would be to simply credit Vrioni for scoring twice in a win, the fact remains that he missed several other decent looks in front of goal. And after a profligate night in the loss on Saturday against Columbus, consistency remains the bigger picture for Vrioni.

If he can regularly play like he did in the first half on Wednesday, New England’s ceiling as a team extends upward to potential playoff contender. If not, they will struggle to reach the postseason.

The second half once again showed that plenty of work remains.

Just as the recent winning streak has been a recurring reminder of the talent and potential within New England’s squad, the second half performances in several of those games have been timely reminders that it’s far from a perfect product.

While Revolution players (particularly in midfield) seem to be growing in confidence in Porter’s system each week, the second half drop-offs have been concerning.

For seemingly no reason other than possibly fatigue, New England eschewed the previously successful defensive approach (pressing) for a deeper line that increasingly invited Atlanta to go forward.

The visitors were allowed 62-percent possession over the final 45 minutes, generating — among other things — a 7-0 advantage on corner kicks. In the end, timely defending and some quality stops from Revolution goalkeeper Alijaz Ivacic proved to be enough to preserve yet another one-goal win.

If Porter’s team can continue to evolve, it has to find better answers in the second half to continue controlling games. Part of this will be resolved simply by getting Gil back in the lineup, but the team’s collective mentality to keep up the pressure clearly still has room to grow.