FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (April 27, 2024) – The New England Revolution (1-7-1; 4 pts.) were defeated by Inter Miami CF (6-2-3; 21 pts.), 4-1, in front of a club-record crowd of 65,612 fans at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night. Tomás Chancalay’s opening-minute goal for New England sent the second-largest soccer crowd in Gillette Stadium history into a frenzy, but his early strike was cancelled out by two goals and two assists from Inter Miami midfielder Lionel Messi, who played all 90 minutes of the match.
New England immediately began the night on the front foot, with Tomás Chancalay tallying his first goal of the MLS regular season only 37 seconds into the match. Carles Gil intercepted a pass in the middle of the park and sent a ball in behind the Miami defense to Chancalay, who lofted a shot from a tight angle over the charging goalkeeper Drake Callender. The goal marked New England’s earliest in a match since Gil scored in the first minute against Atlanta on May 31, 2023.
Making his second appearance at Gillette Stadium, and his first since arriving in MLS last season, Messi pulled Inter Miami level with his first goal of the night in the 32nd minute. The Argentinian slotted home a through ball from Robert Taylor, beating Revolution goalkeeper Henrich Ravas, before he struck again with a 68th-minute goal to put Miami in front. Messi helped set up the final two goals on the night for Miami by Benjamin Cremaschi in the 83rd minute, and Luis Suarez in the 88th minute.
New England defender Henry Kessler started the match for his 100th professional appearance across all competitions for the club. Revolution midfielder Dylan Borrero entered the match in the 81st minute to make his long-awaited return from a knee injury suffered one year ago.
New England heads back on the road again next Saturday, May 4 to face Chicago Fire FC. The 8:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Solider Field is available to watch 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 HD2 (WBZ-FM), with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies, and on 1260 AM “Nossa Radio USA” in Portuguese.
MATCH NOTES
- Saturday’s crowd of 65,612 set a new single-game attendance record for the Revolution, surpassing the 2002 MLS Cup final (61,316).
- The crowd is also the second-largest attendance for a soccer match at Gillette Stadium in the venue’s 23-year history, only behind a 2007 international friendly between Brazil and Mexico (67,584).
- Tomás Chancalay scored his first goal of the regular season, his fifth tally across all competitions this season.
- The first-minute goal was New England’s fastest tally since May 31, 2023, when Carles Gil scored 21 seconds into the match.
- Carles Gil tallied his first regular season assist of 2024, his 75th helper across all competitions for the club. Gil led the team with seven key passes on the night.
- Gil now has 99 goal contributions for his MLS regular season career, one shy of becoming the fifth player in club history to reach the century mark.
- Defender Xavier Arreaga, acquired on Tuesday by New England in a trade with Seattle, earned his first start for the club on Saturday night.
- Henry Kessler made his 100th appearance for New England across all competitions in Saturday’s match, marking the occasion by completing 92 percent of his passes.
- Dylan Borrero returned to action for New England 365 days after suffering a knee injury, entering the match as an 81st-minute substitute.
GAME CAPSULE
New England Revolution 1 vs. Inter Miami CF 4
April 27, 2024 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Assistant Referee: Nick Uranga
Assistant Referee: Jose Da Silva
Fourth Official: Joshua Encarnacion
Video Assistant Referee: Tim Ford
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jeff Muschik
Weather: 59 degrees and sunny
Attendance: 65,612
Scoring Summary:
NE – Tomás Chancalay 1 (Carles Gil 1) 1’
MIA – Lionel Messi 8 (Robert Taylor 2) 32’
MIA –Lionel Messi 9 (Sergio Busquets 3) 68’
MIA – Benjamin Cremaschi 1 (Lionel Messi 7) 83’
MIA – Luis Suarez 7 (Lionel Messi 8) 88’
Misconduct Summary:None
New England Revolution: Henrich Ravas; Xavier Arreaga, Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell (Ryan Spaulding 72’); Nick Lima, Matt Polster (Ian Harkes 60’), Mark-Anthony Kaye (Dylan Borrero 81’), Emmanuel Boateng (Giacomo Vrioni 72’); Nacho Gil, Carles Gil ©, Tomás Chancalay
Substitutes Not Used: JD Gunn, Santiago Suarez, Jack Panayotou.
Inter Miami CF: Drake Callender; Tomás Aviles, Nicolas Freire, Franco Negri; Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi ©, Julian Gressel (Benjamin Cremaschi 75’), David Ruiz, Marcelo Weigandt; Leo Campana (Luis Suarez 64’), Robert Taylor (Matias Rojas 75’).
Substitutes Not Used: CJ Dos Santos, Ryan Sailor, Noah Allen, Yannick Bright, Lawson Sunderland, Leo Afonso.
