New England Revolution

4 takeaways from the Revolution’s 2-1 win against FC Cincinnati

New England moved out of last place and extended its winning streak to four in a row against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

By Hayden Bird

June 23, 2024

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The Revolution stunned FC Cincinnati with a hard-fought 2-1 win on the road Saturday night, extending the recent winning streak to four in a row.

A pair of goals from Giacomo Vrioni proved to be the difference, as New England built a 2-0 halftime lead before surviving a rocky final 45 minutes. Cincinnati’s Yamil Asad pulled a goal back for the home team in the 65th minute, but it proved to be all that the Eastern Conference’s second-place team could muster on the night.

In the 69th minute, Cincinnati midfielder Obinna Nwobodo was sent off after collecting a second yellow card, but the final 20 minutes (plus a fairly substantial amount of stoppage time) remained an increasingly desperate defensive effort. Yet Caleb Porter’s team held firm, and achieved arguably the best result of the season given the setting and strength of the opposition.

With the win, New England officially moved out of last place in the standings, and — with two games in hand — are now only two points off the current playoff line.

Here are four takeaways:

The game plan worked in the first half.

Forced to play without winger Dylan Borrero (out with a hip injury which Porter said after the game is not something the team views as serious), New England started Emmanuel Boateng on the left.

Playing on the road against a talented opponent, the Revolution shifted strategically to a more direct approach.

“We didn’t play quite as fluidly today, but that was the plan,” Porter said afterward. “We played in a simple way. We definitely talked about [Boateng] stretching and getting crosses in. We talked about playing more direct and we talked about stopping [Luciano] Acosta. It was a pretty simple plan. We knew at times that wasn’t going to be perfect, but it’s about winning.”

The other component of the plan appeared to be the usage of a press, trying to squeeze Cincinnati possession in their own half of the field. This worked well, especially as Cincinnati was missing two of its starting center-backs in Matt Miazga (injured) and Miles Robinson (on international duty).

Whether due to New England’s press, the hot conditions (mid-90s temperatures forced hydration breaks), or possibly even fatigue from a midweek game, the usually strong Cincinnati squad looked disheveled in the first half. (The likely explanation is probably a combination of all three factors).

The Revolution took advantage of several misplaced passes from the opposition, and converted both desperation clearances from Cincinnati’s makeshift back-line as well as a foul disparity (19-9) to help create the two goals.

Giacomo Vrioni’s confidence seems to be growing by the game.

Vrioni, having been a maligned figure earlier in the season, has now scored three goals in his last two games.

The Italian-Albanian’s confidence continued its ascent on Saturday, as he was once again much more involved by his own standards. Each of his goals resulted both directly and indirectly from connecting to his teammates in New England’s build up play.

The first, coming in the 21st minute, came via a Carles Gil square pass at the top of the box. Vrioni received the ball with a quality first touch, stepped inside to evade Nwobodo, and fired an exquisite left-footed shot into the low corner of the goal.

The prologue to the second goal began with Vrioni dropping to a deeper position on the left wing, receiving a pass before driving at Cincinnati’s beleaguered back line. He drew a foul, and on the ensuing free kick, Gil found Boateng down the left near the end line. The Ghanian’s first-time cross accurately found Vrioni’s head at the back post, and was dispatched into the corner to double the Revolution’s lead.

In both cases, Vrioni’s capacity to involve himself in open play in slightly deeper positions paid dividends. And on the second goal, Vrioni also showed a clever positional awareness, drifting into a gap between Cincinnati’s midfield and defense, eventually exploiting DeAndre Yedlin’s poor spacing to get open for Boateng’s cross.

The second half showed that plenty of work remains.

Having played the game to tactical perfection in the first half (earning a deserved lead), the Revolution looked somewhat less on point after the break.

Even while enjoying a numerical advantage from the 69th minute on, the visitors were unable to capitalize. Instead, especially after Asad’s goal put Cincinnati back in it, New England was forced into an increasingly protracted defensive effort.

Of course, Cincinnati (the 2023 MLS Supporters’ Shield winners) are a capable team, spearheaded by Acosta. And as much as Porter may look over how his own squad could’ve survived the final period with more efficiency, it’s unrealistic to think that Cincinnati would simply go down without a fight.

Battling to the bitter end, Cincinnati came close to tying the score with one of the last kicks of the game. Deep into stoppage time, midfielder Luca Orellano fired a rebound from a goal-mouth scramble back on net, but New England goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič made a clutch save and the ball was cleared off the line.

In the end, it proved to be just enough to achieve an unlikely Revolution win. The mental fortitude to ride out the difficult conditions of the second half — while not ideal from a possession perspective — showed the team’s recent growth in confidence.

“Aljaž said it best, after the game he ran up to me and he said, ‘We’re [expletive] winners coach, and we’re going to keep going,’” said Porter. “I think that that’s the type of mentality you need out of guys. Certainly, he was a big part of us preserving that win with a couple massive saves that he made.”

Brandon Bye made his long-awaited return.

A footnote to the game was the return of right back Brandon Bye. The talented 28-year-old suffered a torn right ACL in August of 2023, and has been working his way back into training for several weeks.

He entered the game as a substitute in the 88th minute for Gil, helping to add defensive solidity in the final moments.

While his presence in the game was not a major factor, it’s a great sign. Not only was it a nice moment for a popular player to return after a long injury layoff, but it’s encouraging for the team’s long-term outlook.

Bye’s absence at the end of 2023 threw New England’s setup off-balance and helped to derail a possible playoff run. In 2024, the Revolution have gotten good service out of fellow right back Nick Lima, but Bye is probably a superior option when he’s at full fitness (both in providing defensive cover and also in possession as a dangerous option down the right wing).

He will likely need more time to work his way back, but amid a plethora of injuries that the Revolution are currently dealing with, it was refreshing to see at least one important player getting back onto the field.