NEW YORK – The New England Revolution defined tenacity on Wednesday night in Queens, defeating New York City FC in a heated 2-1 victory. Both teams were clawing for a win after facing each other just over two weeks ago at Gillette Stadium in a duel that ended in a 1-1 draw, and for much of the night, the rematch seemed destined for the same result. With the score still tied in stoppage time, New England refused to give up and found the game-winning goal in the 93rd minute at Citi Field.
Just like last time, the Revolution were awarded a penalty in the first half, giving Carles Gil a chance for revenge after New York City goalkeeper Matt Freese denied him from the spot on August 23. While he could have let Freese mess with his mind after blocking his last attempt, Gil made no mistake and put the Revs ahead in the 12th minute. With the goal, Gil is now tied for fifth in MLS history with 23 career goals from the spot.
New England remained ahead for most of the match, but conceded in the 71st minute as NYC pulled level late in the game. With nearly 60 percent of possession on the night, momentum could have easily shifted toward the home team, but that’s simply not how the Revolution are playing this season. In just his second appearance for New England, Dániel Gazdag scored his first goal for the club in the 93rd minute to secure all three points.
“I know this group will never put a head down, no matter what the circumstance on the field. They just keep going,” head coach Marko Mitrović said after the match.
Gazdag had played only about 30 total minutes for New England when he scored the winner. And just as quickly as he found the net, he’s also come to understand the determination that defines this Revolution squad.
“I’ve been with the team for only like a week or eight days, not a long time, but I can already tell that it’s a special group, and they believe that we can have a special season. We have really good players, a lot of quality players, and I think we played a good game,” the Hungarian said. “This team just believes until the end and that’s what happened today.”
The win boosted the Revolution to third in the Eastern Conference standings, giving them some strong momentum as they close out an extended road stretch in Chicago on Sunday. Chicago Fire FC trail the Revs by just a single point and will be an important test as the Revs stare down their final 10 games of the 2026 regular season.
With the new signings already making an impact and the Revs continuing to grind out results, the season has already felt special. But as Gazdag suggested, this group believes the best may still be to come.
The Revolution take on Chicago at Soldier Field at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday before returning to Gillette Stadium on September 19 for the first time in almost a month.
