FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (2-0-1; 7 pts.) defeated Atlanta United FC, 2-1, at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night. Brandon Bye opened the scoring in the 19th minute when he connected on an inch-perfect cross from Carles Gil and placed a headed shot inside of the near post. Atlanta’s Marcelino Moreno converted a penalty kick in the 41st minute, which left the score level at the break. Tajon Buchanan won a penalty kick on the other side of halftime, and Gil’s successful bid from the spot in the 53rd minute lifted New England to its first-ever win against Atlanta.

The Revolution move into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference by taking all three points from tonight’s match. By collecting seven points through the campaign’s first three games, New England has also matched the best three-game start to a season in club history, tying the mark set by the 2005 and 2009 Revs sides.

Gil registered a goal and an assist in the same match for the fifth time in his MLS career. He owns one goal and two assists through the season’s first three games, and has accrued 11 goals and 18 assists for his MLS career. Bye’s goal is the fourth of his professional career, and his first since June 26, 2019 – a goal that was also assisted by Gil.

Midfielder Maciel became the first Revolution II alum to ever appear for the first team in tonight’s match. The 21-year-old Brazilian, who signed with Revs II last year ahead of the team’s inaugural season and started all 16 of its games, played 90 minutes and completed all 33 of his passes in central midfield in his MLS debut. He played alongside Matt Polster, who registered his 100th career MLS appearance in tonight’s game.

Andrew Farrell also recorded a milestone, eclipsing Jay Heaps for third-most starts in club history with 239. Farrell marked the occasion by registering a secondary assist on Bye’s first-half goal, his ninth career MLS assist.

New England returns to action on Saturday, May 8, when the team visits Nashville SC at Nissan Stadium. The match kicks off at 1:30 p.m. ET on TV38, myRITV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and in Portuguese on WBIX 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA.

POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 2, Atlanta United FC 1
May 1, 2021 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

• The New England Revolution defeated Atlanta United at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, 2-1, to improve to 2-0-1 on the season. The victory, New England’s first over Atlanta in the series history, pushed the Revolution’ all-time record against Atlanta United to 1-4-2.
• Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena earned his first-career victory against Atlanta United. His record with New England moves to 18-10-17.
• Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena deployed a 4-2-3-1 for the first time this season with three changes in the Starting XI from last week’s home opener against D.C. United. DeJuan Jones, Maciel, and Tajon Buchanan all started in place of Christian Mafla, Wilfrid Kaptoum, and Gustavo Bou.
• Midfielder Carles Gil registered the primary assist on Bye’s first-half goal, his second helper of the season, and converted a second-half penalty kick in the second half for his first goal of the season. The tally was his 11th in the regular season and improved his record from the penalty spot to 5-for-7 in MLS.
• In a 90-minute effort, Gil finished with 93 touches, his sixth-highest total since joining the Revolution, and had a game-high five key passes.
• Defender Brandon Bye scored his first goal of the season, and fourth of his career, in the 17th minute of Saturday’s contest. The goal was his first since June 26, 2019. Bye also recorded team highs in tackles (5), recoveries (9), and interceptions (2) as well as two clearances and duels won.
• First-year midfielder Maciel became the first Revolution II graduate to appear and start in a first-team match. The 21-year-old native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was signed to the MLS roster on March 22 and was the lone Revolution II player to start in all 16 games during the team’s inaugural USL League One campaign in 2020.
• Maciel, the sixth different Revolution player to make his MLS debut this season, completed all 33 of his passes, the first time a Revolution player has finished with 100 percent passing accuracy completing 30 or more passes since both Teal Bunbury and Juan Agudelo both did so with 31 completed passes on Oct. 19, 2019, also against Atlanta.
• Forward Tajon Buchanan returned to the starting lineup after registering a nine-minute performance off the bench a week ago. Buchanan won a team-best nine duels and added five recoveries, two tackles, and a clearance and was fouled six times on the night.
• Defender Andrew Farrell recorded his first assist of the season on Bye’s opening goal, the ninth of his MLS career. The assist was Farrell’s first since Sept. 7, 2019.
• Farrell was in the Starting XI for the 239th time in his Revolution career, moving past Jay Heaps into third place in club history behind Matt Reis (253) and Shalrie Joseph (254). It was the 242nd appearance for Farrell with New England as well, moving him one shy of tying Heaps for fifth in club history and 19 away from matching Joseph and Diego Fagundez for the club record of 261.
• Midfielder Matt Polster made his 100th MLS appearance, playing 90 minutes and finishing the night with eight recoveries, three duels won, and two clearances.
• Forward Adam Buksa led the way with four shots, including two on target, to go along with two key passes and seven duels won.

GAME CAPSULE

REFEREE: Chris Penso.
AR1: Corey Parker; AR2: Jason White.
4th: Thomas Snyder;
Video Assistant Referee: Sorin Stoica.
Weather: 58 degrees and clear

Scoring Summary:
NE – Brandon Bye 1 (Carles Gil 2, Andrew Farrell 1) 19’
ATL – Marcelino Moreno 1 (Penalty Kick) 43’
NE – Carles Gil 1 (Penalty Kick) 53’

Misconduct Summary:
ATL – Jake Mulraney (Yellow Card – Foul) 17’
ATL – Alan Franco (Yellow Card – Foul) 29’
ATL – Santiago Sosa (Yellow Card – Foul) 33’
NE – Brandon Bye (Yellow Card – Foul) 75’
ATL – Gabriel Heinze (Yellow Card – Dissent) 76’
NE – Matt Polster (Yellow Card – Foul) 90’+2

New England Revolution: Matt Turner; DeJuan Jones, Andrew Farrell, Henry Kessler, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster, Maciel; Arnór Traustason (Teal Bunbury 72’), Carles Gil ©, Tajon Buchanan (Tommy McNamara 72’); Adam Buksa.

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Jon Bell, A.J. DeLaGarza, Christian Mafla, Scott Caldwell, Wilfrid Kaptoum, Edward Kizza

Atlanta United FC: Brad Guzan ©; Brooks Lennon, Anton Walkes, Alan Franco (Miles Robinson 46’), Jake Mulraney (Erik López 72’); Franco Ibarra (Ezequiel Barco 46’), Emerson Hyndman, Santiago Sosa; Jürgen Damm (George Bello 26’), Marcelino Moreno, Erick Torres (Josef Martínez 72’).

Substitutes Not Used: Ben Lundgaard, Jack Gurr, Jackson Conway.