CHESTER, Pa. – The New England Revolution (16-4-4; 52 pts.) defeated the Philadelphia Union, 1-0, on the road at Subaru Park on Friday night. Midfielder Matt Polster netted the game’s lone goal in the 33rd minute on Arnór Traustason’s sixth assist of the season. The Revolution preserved the one-goal lead and picked up the seventh clean sheet of the season despite going down to 10 men in the 59th minute, as Traustason was ejected after picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.

With tonight’s victory, New England improves to 7-3-3 on the road, setting a new club record for away victories. The Revolution, the first MLS team to reach 50 points this season, need only one more triumph to tie the team’s all-time mark of 17 wins in a season. New England, 2-0-1 against the Union this season, including a 1-0-1 mark at Subaru Park, finish unbeaten in the season series against Philadelphia for the first time since 2015.

Goalkeeper Brad Knighton picked up his third clean sheet in his sixth start of the season. The former Union goalkeeper recorded eight saves in the shutout performance, one shy of his career high, as he improved to 5-1-0 on the season. Knighton’s five consecutive wins are a personal best.

Polster, who registered his 100th start in MLS, netted his second goal of the season, both against Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Carles Gil returned to action in his first appearance in ret July 31 and submitted a 24-minute shift off the bench, logging one shot on target.

New England returns home next Saturday, September 11 for a meeting with New York City FC at Gillette Stadium. The home match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. ET on WSBK-TV38, myRITV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and 1260 AM Nossa Radio.

POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 1, Philadelphia Union 0
September 3, 2021 – Subaru Park (Chester, Pa.)

Team Notes: 

• The New England Revolution (16-4-4, 52 pts.) defeated the Philadelphia Union (8-7-8, 32 pts.), 1-0, at Subaru Park, holding on for the win despite going down to 10 men in the 59th minute. 
• The Revolution’s 2.17 points per game through 24 matches keep the team on pace to challenge the MLS single-season points record (72 – LAFC, 2019). 
• The Revs are the first MLS team to the 50-point mark in 2021. New England’s 52 points are already the third most in club history, seven away from the team record of 59, with 10 games remaining. 
• New England has reached 16 wins in a season for the third time in history. The club’s next win will tie a Revolution record (17) set in 2005 and matched in 2014. 
• The Revs’ seven away wins are a new club record as the team improves to 7-3-3 on the road in 2021. 
• The Revolution end the season series against Philadelphia with a 2-0-1 record, marking the first unbeaten season against the Union since 2015 (2-0-1). 
• The Revs’ 45 goals and 24 first-half tallies both lead the league, as does the team’s +17 goal differential (as of the end of Friday’s match). 
• New England logged its seventh shutout of the season. The team’s four away clean sheets are tied for most league wide. 
• Bruce Arena deployed a starting lineup featuring five changes from the club’s last match at New York City FC on Aug. 28. Tonight’s new starters were Brad Knighton, Brandon Bye, Wilfrid Kaptoum, Matt Polster, and Edward Kizza.

Individual Notes:                                                    

• Revolution captain and MLS assists leader Carles Gil returned to action for the first time since July 31, entering the game in the 66th minute and logging one shot on target.
• Matt Polster made his 100th MLS start, his 19th of the season, and scored his fifth career goal. Polster has now scored in back-to-back games against the Union as he now has his first multi-goal season in MLS since 2016 with Chicago. 
• Arnór Traustason recorded his sixth assist of the season, second most on the team, with a free-kick delivery on Polster’s goal. 
• First-round 2021 MLS SuperDraft pick Edward Kizza made his first MLS start, adding to his eight substitute appearances on the year. Prior to this game, the rookie out of Pittsburgh earned a nomination for USL League One Player of the Month for August after scoring four goals over three starts with Revolution II.  
• Brad Knighton logged a shutout for the third time in six starts this season, making eight saves – one shy of his career high set in 2009 – as he improved to 5-1-0 on the season. The veteran and former Union goalkeeper has now won five consecutive games for the first time in his career.
• Brandon Bye returned to the starting lineup, slotting in at right back for his 20th appearance of the season. Bye’s last start came on Aug. 14 at Toronto. With Bye back in the squad, DeJuan Jones shifted to left back for his 21st start of the year.
• Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena improves his career record to 234-135-109, with a 32-14-20 mark in New England. He is now six wins away from matching Sigi Schmid (240) for the most regular season victories in MLS history. 

GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Assistant Referees: Brian Dunn (AR1); Jeffrey Swartzel (AR2)
Fourth Official: Alan Kelly
Video Assistant Referee: Guido Gonzalez Jr. 
Weather: 70 degrees and clear 

Scoring Summary:
NE – Matt Polster 2 (Arnór Traustason 6) 33’ 

Misconduct Summary:
PHI – Nathan Harriel (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 33’ 
NE – Arnór Traustason (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 55’ 
NE – Arnór Traustason (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 59’
PHI – Alejandro Bedoya (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 71’ 
PHI – Quinn Sullivan (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 77’ 
PHI – Anthony Fontana (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 80’

New England Revolution: Brad Knighton; DeJuan Jones, Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell ©, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster, Wilfrid Kaptoum (Carles Gil 66’); Tommy McNamara (A.J. DeLaGarza 90+5’), Arnór Traustason; Teal Bunbury, Edward Kizza (Scott Caldwell 62’)   

Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Christian Mafla, Emmanuel Boateng, Luis Caicedo, Maciel

Philadelphia Union: Joe Bendik; Stuart Findlay, Jakob Glesnes, Nathan Harriel (Anthony Fontana 72’), Kai Wagner; Alejandro Bedoya ©, Jack McGlynn (Davó 72’), Paxten Aaronson, Leon Flach, Quinn Sullivan (ColeTurner 84’); Kacper Przybyłko

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Freese, Sergio Santos, Aurelien Collin

Full statistics available HERE.