FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena hailed the influential performances of Djordje Petrović and Carles Gil following Wednesday night’s 2-1 triumph over Atlanta United.
The pair produced impressive displays at both ends of the pitch as the Revolution earned an instant return to winning ways, bouncing back from Saturday’s defeat to the New York Red Bulls courtesy of an excellent first-half showing at Gillette Stadium.
Matt Polster and Giacomo Vrioni were on the scoresheet in Foxborough – each finding the net inside the opening 10 minutes – to extend the club’s superb unbeaten record on home soil to 8-0-3 in 2023, with Machop Chol netting an injury-time consolation for the visitors.
Arena was pleased to have seen his side hold on for the three points, especially in the midst of a busy spell with the Revs back in action against D.C. United this weekend – and highlighted the contributions of his goalkeeper (who made a career-best 10 saves) and the league’s joint-leading assist-maker Gil, as well as Atlanta dangerman Thiago Almada.
“Our mission was to get three points; we got it,” he said. “We saw three great performances – Petrović, Almada and Gil – outstanding play by those three players.
“Djordje kept us in the game in the second half. He was very good, and I can’t even think about how many shots Almada had – 87 or something?! He was pretty good, he’s an excellent player.
“It seemed like he had his way with us for long periods of time … I bet he had 10 shots on goal, if not more. He was pretty good, but we were able to stand him up basically outside the penalty area – if you’re going to try and beat Djordje from 18-20 yards out, you’re going to have a difficult time, so if we did anything well, that was probably it.
“[Atlanta] played well, they had a good second half. I think when we made the change at the 65th minute, we really played poorly from there on in.
“I think Atlanta showed a lot of quality, a lot of character, being down two goals and coming out, and trying to get something out of the game in the second half, so give them credit.”
The head coach also praised the efforts of goalscorers Vrioni and Polster, along with home debutant Ian Harkes, the returning Justin Rennicks and defender Brandon Bye.
Vrioni netted his fifth goal of the campaign – and second in four games – to hand the hosts a two-goal advantage, latching onto Gil’s sensational through-ball and rounding the goalkeeper to convert, after Polster had broken the deadlock with a fine first-time finish from outside the box four minutes in.
“He did a real good job,” Arena said of Vrioni’s display. “One of his strengths is running in behind backlines, and the timing with Carles was very good – obviously, it was a great goal.”
On Polster and Harkes’ chemistry in midfield, he continued: “They played very well. You see why we got Ian – he’s a good, experienced player. He’s very good with his passing; I don’t think he lost a pass – I don't look at statistics that closely, but I don't even remember him missing a pass.
“His positioning was good, his understanding tactically, and where to position himself was very good. He had a real good game.”
Forward Rennicks was restored to the starting XI for the first time in league play since April’s visit of FC Cincinnati, while Bye followed up his goalscoring display at Red Bull Arena with another notable showing.
“He [Rennicks] did a good, solid job,” Arena stated. “We wanted to attack them in a certain way, and I think he did a real good job in the in the first half. Overall, a good performance.
“He's [Bye’s] been good. He had a good first half and he was dangerous in the attack. Defensively, he's been pretty good. He got beat on a couple plays in the second half, but he's been good.
“He’s getting better. He had a little bit of a downside to his game maybe around the middle of the season, but he's picked up again and he's playing well.”
The triumph lifted New England back up to second in the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings, with one game to go before the regular season breaks for Leagues Cup action.
Reflecting on his side’s campaign so far, Arena expressed his pride, and hopes to see the Revolution mount a final push to complete the opening period of the league term on a high when D.C. United visit Gillette Stadium on Saturday.
“I think we've had a good year to date,” he added. “We've had some unfortunate calls go against us this year, and that’s hurt us in terms of points and where we could be on the table … but it’s all a part of it in MLS so hopefully, we can recover and give D.C. United a game on Saturday.
“They are certainly going to have a bit of an edge in terms of being a little bit fitter for the game, so we’ll see.
“We’re hanging in there. We're a little thin right now with injuries and other things, and we have to get through this game on Saturday and get reorganized.”
