MLS Regular Season | Match #32
New England Revolution at Houston Dynamo FC
Saturday, October 5 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
English Talent: Chris Wittyngham (Play-by-Play), Lori Lindsey (Analyst)
Spanish Talent: Jesus Acosta (Play-by-Play), Carlos Suarez (Analyst)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2 (English) 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
English Talent: Brad Feldman (play-by-play), Charlie Davies (analyst)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
14th in Eastern Conference (9-18-4, 31 pts.)
Last Result | 2-1 loss at Houston Dynamo FC
The last home game of the New England Revolution’s 2024 regular season comes against the campaign’s first opponent from all the way back in February, D.C. United. The Black-and-Red won the day at Audi Field by a score of 3-1 against 10 men, but the matchup is one that New England has had the better of in recent years, going 8-2-0 in their last 10 meetings and owning an unbeaten 8-0-5 record at Gillette Stadium dating back to 2012.
The season has not been what the Revolution had hoped it would be back in February, with New England sitting in 14th place in the Eastern Conference with three matches left to play. But with a game in hand and six points separating the Revs from 9th place, head coach Caleb Porter said on Friday that he still believed that anything was possible and that his side had it in them to win their remaining three matches.
D.C. United
11th in Eastern Conference (9-13-10, 37 pts.)
Last Result | 4-3 win at Nashville SC
Trailing 2-3 in stoppage time, everything looked done and dusted midweek for D.C. United on their trip to face Nashville SC. At least, that’s how it seemed before second-half substitute Gabriel Pirani netted goals at 90’+4 and 90’+7 to steal all three points for the Capital club right at the death.
In a way, the result was representative of United’s season at large. After being shaky for much of the season, caught between a bright attack championed by Golden Boot leader Christian Benteke and a leaky defense leading the league in all the wrong areas, D.C. have started to peak at exactly the right time, compiling a 5-3-2 record in their last 10 MLS matches and putting themselves firmly into the playoff conversation when it matters most.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution winger Luca Langoni
When Argentinian winger Luca Langoni joined the New England Revolution for a club-record fee this past summer, expectations were high that he would jolt the Revs attack to life this season and make a name for himself in Foxborough for years to come. The young attacker delivered early, notching a goal and an assist from the bench in his club debut in August, and La Langosta has added another of each in the seven games since then, not to mention plenty of additional chances created.
Now, with the season in crunch time, it will be all eyes on Langoni to see if the young man can continue to deliver the goods. Already looking comfortably settled into New England’s system and squad, another attacking return in this crucial last home game of the season would go a long way toward cementing a short but successful first campaign with the Revs.
D.C. United striker Christian Benteke
What a ride it’s been for Christian Benteke. Ten years ago, the Belgian striker was busy making a name for himself as a promising talent at the highest level with Aston Villa in England’s Premier League, soon to win himself a transfer to Liverpool FC. But when that transfer didn’t work out as hoped, and when he subsequently struggled to reach his previous heights with Crystal Palace, it could have been easy for Benteke to lose hope. Instead, he took a chance on a move to MLS, where he now leads the 2024 Golden Boot race with 22 goals ahead of stars like Denis Bouanga, Luis Suárez, Cucho Hernández, and even Lionel Messi himself.
Needless to say, the Belgian big man poses D.C.’s biggest threat in front of goal. Caleb Porter, however, highlighted in his pre-match press conference how over-reliance on a single plan of attack can be kryptonite for any team, pointing out how drastically different United’s position in the table would be if Benteke wasn’t having the singular season he’s enjoyed so far. If the Revs defense can contain the Black-and-Red’s frontman, they’ll have a shot in the match.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Revs head coach Caleb Porter on the team’s evolution since facing D.C. United in the season opener:
“Yeah, we are a lot different since then. Obviously, we have added some pieces that have all made us better. All the pieces, most of them are in the starting lineup. We have gotten better, not just with personnel, but our mentality. I think our identity, in terms of how we want to play, has gotten better. Case in point is last game. Even though we lost the game, I view Houston as a top five team in the league. In fact, the last four games were playing, three of the four are top five teams in the league. I thought we had one of our better performances in that game. It shows how far we've come. I know we didn't get rewarded with the result, but our identity is much better than it was back then when we played D.C., and our personnel is better.”
Porter on what he expects from United on Saturday in the Revs’ last home game of the season:
“D.C. is a good team. They had a great win against Nashville [on Wednesday]. They have the leading scorer in the league right now in [Christian] Benteke. He is a handful. Obviously, the first time we played them we know that very well, because he dunked on us … He is very, very good player, and he has shown this year that he has massive quality, especially in the air. We have to always pay attention to him in the box. They look to deliver crosses into him, and he is a world class player in terms of aerial duels.”
Porter on how he’s keeping the squad focused on the positives from Wednesday’s loss in Houston:
“It is easy because you can show them the positives. The big thing is just reminding them with the clips how well they played, and not reminding them of the result and the bottom line. Most people just think about the bottom line. We need to think about the positive play and how hard they worked. They worked so hard, the players, and I appreciate that because in a tough year where it has been up and down and it has been difficult, you don't always see that out of out of guys and out of teams. It is not easy to continue to work hard when you don't get the reward always, but to get the reward you have to keep working hard and work even harder. Sometimes you don't, you lose energy, and you stop working. But I am real proud of the players, how hard they worked, how much they gave in that game, and how well we played. There were good, teachable moments.”
Porter on what adjustments the coaching staff will make with the quick turnaround to the weekend:
“Always, always, we make adjustments for the opponent. Always. Whether that is tactical, whether that is personnel, or whether that is just little things defensively in how we press, where we press, where their strengths are, and where their weaknesses are. In the attack, same thing where we are looking to attack them. Sometimes it looks like the same system, but there are tweaks in everything we are doing every single game. But also, not so much where we lose the continuity and the consistency of what we want to do, and not so much where we lose the awareness of ourselves, where we are strong, and where we are good.”
Revs defender Peyton Miller on how New England can limit Christian Benteke and D.C.’s attack:
“I think just like keep him [Benteke] in front of us. Obviously, he's dangerous in the box, so I think that if we stay on him, we can eliminate that threat, and get pressure. Also, I think I've been holding my own pretty good, and just keeping on learning from my mistakes and through every game.”
Miller on how eager he is to add attacking returns on top of his defensive contributions:
“I think defending is important, but I think attacking also is important. I think that the assists and the goals will come as I keep playing, but we just have to keep focusing on the clean sheets and stuff like that, because that will help us win games. Eventually the assists and the goals will come.”
Miller on how important this final home match of the regular season is going to be:
“I think it's going to be important for us, especially going into these last three games, to win this D.C. game. It’ll also be important for the future to build off that, to give us, like energy and stuff like that for next year, going into next year, the rest of the season.”
Miller on the chemistry he’s building with his veteran teammates:
“I mean, they've accepted me. They treat me like any other teammate, they don't really look at the age that much. They do joke around with me and stuff like that. Sometimes though I'll get yelled at, but I'm still learning and they know that, but they also know that I can take it. So, I just continue to learn and they just keep treating me like any other teammate.”
