FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (12-3-4; 40 pts.) extended their unbeaten streak to six games with a 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Union (7-5-7; 28 pts.) at Gillette Stadium on Sunday evening. Matt Polster opened the scoring and his Revolution account in the 10th minute when he combined with Tommy McNamara and scored with his right foot. Philadelphia’s Paxten Aaronson equalized in the 31st minute, but Gustavo Bou responded with the game-winning goal eight minutes later – moving him into the co-lead for Major League Soccer’s Golden Boot.

With the win, New England has reached the 40-point threshold in fewer than 20 games for the first time in club history. New England’s six-game unbeaten run matches its best of the season as the Revs have claimed 16 out of a possible 18 points since July 17. The Revolution also went 5-0-1 between May 8 and June 23. With the three points tonight, the club extends its lead in the Eastern Conference to a season-high 10 points and its Supporters’ Shield advantage to six points.

Defender Andrew Farrell set a new club record for most MLS games started in tonight’s match with his 255th selection, eclipsing Shalrie Joseph’s mark of 254. He also surpassed Matt Reis for second-most minutes played in Revolution history and is now 115 minutes away from topping Joseph’s club record of 22,867. With four more appearances, Farrell will also break New England’s all-time games played record of 261, a mark jointly held by Joseph and Diego Fagundez.

Gustavo Bou’s goal in the 39th minute was his 11th tally of the season, which moves the 2021 MLS All Star into a tie with Seattle Sounders FC’s Raúl Ruidíaz for the league lead. Bou finished the night with four shots, two on target, and four key passes. The Argentinian now owns 25 goals in 49 league appearances, and 28 goals across all competitions – both the second most in MLS since he entered the league in July 2019.

Polster’s goal marked his first with the Revolution, and his first in MLS since Aug. 5, 2017 when he was a member of Chicago Fire FC. Tommy McNamara recorded his third assist of the season on Polster’s tally.

In net, Matt Turner made five saves in his second game back with New England from the Concacaf Gold Cup, where he was named the tournament’s Best Goalkeeper.

New England will hit the road next Saturday, Aug. 14 to face Toronto FC at BMO Field, marking New England’s first trip to Ontario since March 2019. The 8:00 p.m. ET match will air locally on WSBK-TV38, myRITV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and WBIX 1260 AM Nossa Radio.

POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 2, Philadelphia Union 1
August 8, 2021 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Team Notes:

• The New England Revolution defeated Philadelphia Union, 2-1, on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium. The result improves New England’s record to 12-3-4 (40 pts.) this season and extends their unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1), tying their longest such streak of the season.
• The Revolution have reached the 40-point mark in fewer than 20 games for the first time in club history. The club’s previous fastest season to 40 points came in 2005 (22 games). The Revolution remain the lone team to average more than two points per game this season (2.11).
• The win lifts New England 10 points above second-place Orlando City SC in the Eastern Conference standings and stretches the club’s Supporters’ Shield lead to six points over Sporting Kansas City.
• New England’s home record this season improves to 7-1-1, tied for the most wins at home this year with LA Galaxy. The win was New England’s 200th regular season home win in club history.
• New England’s all-time record against Philadelphia shifts to 7-17-7, including a 4-6-4 mark at Gillette Stadium. The win was New England’s first over Philadelphia in the regular season since July 29, 2017 – a 3-0 victory at Gillette Stadium.
• Bruce Arena’s career record improves to 230-134-109, including a 28-13-20 regular season mark with New England. Arena is the second coach to win 230 career games in MLS (Sigi Schmid – 240).

Individual Notes:

• Tonight’s Starting XI featured two changes from the club’s most recent match on Wednesday vs. Nashville. Maciel started in the midfield in place of Wilfrid Kaptoum, while Tommy McNamara replaced Arnór Traustason.
• Andrew Farrell made his 255th MLS start tonight, surpassing Shalrie Joseph (254) for the most regular season starts in a Revolution uniform. In the first half tonight, Farrell also jumped leap Matt Reis (22,699) for the second-most minutes played in Revs history. The defender finished his 90-minute performance with a team-high two interceptions, eight recoveries, and 93.8 percent passing accuracy.
• Gustavo Bou scored his 11th goal of the season, tying him for the lead in the MLS Golden Boot race with Seattle’s Raúl Ruidíaz. Bou has scored 25 regular season goals for the club and 28 goals including the postseason – both the second-highest totals since he entered MLS in July 2019.
• Bou has now scored 10 goals in his last 12 games. His 11 goals on the year mark an MLS career high. The Argentine added a team-high four key passes on the night.
• Matt Polster scored his first goal in a Revolution uniform, finishing off a give-and-go exchange with Tommy McNamara in the 10th minute. The goal was Polster’s first in MLS play since Aug. 5, 2017 with Chicago Fire FC. Polster played 45 minutes and completed 24 of his 25 passes while adding five recoveries and two clearances.
• Tommy McNamara added his third assist of the season on Polster’s tally and closed his 75-minute outing with two chances created, 46 of 49 passes completed, and three tackles.
• Henry Kessler and Matt Turner also played for the second time this week after helping the United States to victory at the Concacaf Gold Cup. Kessler completed 96 percent of his passes and recorded four recoveries and four clearances.
• Turner made five saves to log his eighth win of the season – matching his career high. Turner’s 32 wins with the Revolution rank third in club history.
• Tajon Buchanan saw action for the second time since returning from international duty with Canada at the Concacaf Gold Cup. The third-year pro won 10 of 14 duels on the night.
• DeJuan Jones set a new career high with 107 touches on the night, breaking his previous mark set last Wednesday vs. Nashville SC. Jones won a team-best 11 duels and also won four tackles.
• Maciel returned to the starting lineup for the first time since July 21, finishing the night with a team-high 10 recoveries to go with one key pass.

GAME CAPSULE
REFEREE: Armando Villarreal
Assistant Referees: Kevin Klinger (AR1); Matthew Nelson (AR2)
4th: Joshua Encarnacion
Video Assistant Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Weather: 79 degrees and cloudy
Attendance: 17,054

Scoring Summary:
NE – Matt Polster 1 (Tommy McNamara 3) 10’
PHI – Paxten Aaronson 1 (Jakob Glesnes 2) 31’
NE – Gustavo Bou 11 (Unassisted) 39’

Misconduct Summary:
PHI – Olivier Mbaizo (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 22’
PHI – Jack Elliott (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 54’
NE – Tommy McNamara (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 69’
PHI – Kai Wagner (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 84’
NE – Teal Bunbury (Yellow Card – Time Wasting) 90’+3

New England Revolution: Matt Turner; DeJuan Jones, Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster (Arnór Traustason 46’), Maciel, Tommy McNamara (Scott Caldwell 75’), Tajon Buchanan; Gustavo Bou © (Teal Bunbury 90’), Adam Buksa

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Earl Edwards Jr., Christian Mafla, A.J. DeLaGarza, Emmanuel Boateng, Wilfrid Kaptoum

Philadelphia Union: Andre Blake ©; Olivier Mbaizo (Alejandro Bedoya 57’), Jakob Glesnes, Jack Elliott, Stuart Findlay; Jack McGlynn, Jose Martinez (Ilsinho 57’), Leon Flach (Kai Wagner 46’); Paxten Aaronson, Quinn Sullivan (Daniel Gazdag 76’), Sergio Santos (Kacper Przybylko 46’)

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Freese, Aurélien Collin, Nathan Harriel, Cole Turner

Full statistics available HERE.