CHICAGO, Ill. (May 4, 2024) – The New England Revolution (2-7-1; 7 pts.) defeated Chicago Fire FC (2-5-4; 10 pts.), 1-0, on Saturday night at Soldier Field. Forward Tomás Chancalay netted the lone goal of the match, his second tally in as many games. Goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič suited up for his Revolution debut and collected the clean sheet with a two-save performance.
After a 45-minute weather delay, Saturday’s match was scoreless through 45 minutes before New England came out on the front foot in the second half. Chancalay broke the stalemate in the 62nd minute with his second goal of the MLS campaign, his sixth in all competitions this season. Forward Giacomo Vrioni flicked a goal kick from Ivačič into Chancalay’s path, as the Argentine then drove into the center of the field and unleashed a curling left-footed strike from outside the penalty area, which found the side netting. Chancalay led New England’s attack with three shots, including two on target.
With the one-goal advantage, Ivačič and the Revolution backline, anchored by Xavier Arreaga and Henry Kessler in central defense, controlled the match to preserve the clean sheet. The 30-year-old Slovenian goalkeeper denied Chicago’s Xherdan Shaqiri with a highlight-reel save on a free kick attempt in the 73rd minute, tipping the on-target shot over the bar.
Revolution captain Carles Gil played 90 minutes in the victory and contributed a team-high five key passes. Midfielder Dylan Borrero logged his second consecutive appearance, a 15-minute shift off the bench, in his return from a knee injury. Midfielder Matt Polster, playing against his former club, also logged the full 90 minutes to surpass 15,000 minutes played in his MLS regular season career.
New England returns to action on Saturday, May 11, traveling to Red Bull Arena to take on the New York Red Bulls. The 7:30 p.m. ET match airs live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish. Listen to the Revolution’s local radio calls on 98.5 The Sports Hub (WBZ-FM), with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies, and on 1260 AM “Nossa Radio USA” in Portuguese.
MATCH NOTES
- Tonight’s win extends New England’s unbeaten streak over Chicago Fire FC to 12 consecutive matches. The Revolution are 4-0-8 against Chicago dating back to 2019.
- New England has now collected points in its last six visits to Chicago, registering a 3-0-3 record in the windy city dating back to the 2019 season.
- With tonight’s victory at Soldier Field, the Revolution collected points on the road for the first time in the 2024 MLS campaign.
- Tonight’s win, New England’s second shutout victory of the season, marked New England’s 900th MLS regular season match.
- Tomás Chancalay netted the game-winning goal in the 62nd minute, the 25-year-old’s second tally of the 2024 MLS campaign. Chancalay logged a team-best three shots, including two on target.
- Chancalay has now scored in consecutive matches for the first time in his MLS career.
- Aljaž Ivačič recorded the shutout victory in his Revolution debut. Ivačič, who made two saves tonight, is the first Revolution goalkeeper to log a shutout victory in his club debut since Cody Cropper in 2016.
- Xavier Arreaga made his second consecutive start for New England tonight. The Ecuadorian international paired up with Henry Kessler in central defense and contributed two shots on the attacking end, one on target.
- Dylan Borrero made his second consecutive appearance with a 15-minute performance off the bench in tonight’s win. The 22-year-old Colombian recently returned to action nearly a year after suffering a knee injury that prematurely ended his 2023 season.
- Matt Polster surpassed 15,000 MLS minutes played tonight. The 30-year-old midfielder made his MLS debut with Chicago in 2015 and spent four seasons with the club.
- Revolution Head Coach Caleb Porter’s career record against Chicago improves to 6-1-9.
GAME CAPSULE
New England Revolution 1 at Chicago Fire FC 0
May 4, 2024 – Soldier Field (Chicago, Illinois)
Referee: Sergii Demianchuk
Assistant Referee: Chris Elliot
Assistant Referee: Andrew Bigelow
Fourth Official: Lukasz Szpala
Video Assistant Referee: Jair Marrufo
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Eric Weisbrod
Weather: 68 degrees and cloudy
Attendance: 18,379
Scoring Summary:
NE- Tomás Chancalay 2 (Unassisted) 62’
Misconduct Summary:
NE- Henry Kessler (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 22’
NE- Nick Lima (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 50’
NE- Tomás Chancalay (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 72’
CHI- Allan Arigoni (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 82’
NE- Aljaž Ivačič (Yellow Card- Dissent) 90+6’
New England Revolution: Aljaž Ivačič; Ryan Spaulding, Xavier Arreaga (Dave Romney 90+3’), Henry Kessler, Nick Lima; Matt Polster, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Esmir Bajraktarevic (Dylan Borrero 75’), Carles Gil ©, Tomás Chancalay, Giacomo Vrioni (Noel Buck 83’)
Substitutes Not Used: Henrich Ravas, Emmanuel Boateng, Earl Edwards Jr., Andrew Farrell, Ian Harkes, Jack Panayotou
Chicago Fire FC: Chris Brady; Rafael Czichos (Carlos Teran 53’), Andrew Gutman, Mauricio Pineda, Allan Arigoni; Chris Mueller (Xherdan Shaqiri 65’), Brian Gutierrez (Omari Glasgow 79’), Fabian Herbers © (Gaston Gimenez 79’), Kellyn Acosta, Hugo Cuypers, Georgios Kutsias (Tom Barlow) 65’
Substitutes Not Used: Spencer Richey, Jonathan Dean, Federico Navarro, Arnaud Souquet
