FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (March 17, 2024) – The New England Revolution (0-4-0; 0 pts.) fell at home to FC Cincinnati (2-0-2; 8 pts.) on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, 2-1. Cincinnati pulled ahead with two goals within the first 10 minutes of the second half, before Giacomo Vrioni scored New England’s lone goal in the 62nd minute, his second tally in the last two games and his first regular season goal of 2024.

After the two Eastern Conference teams dueled to a stalemate through 45 minutes, the introduction of the reigning MLS MVP Luciano Acosta provided a spark to the visitors after halftime. Acosta set up Cincinnati’s opening goal in the 52nd minute, looping the ball across the face of goal to Yuya Kubo, who headed the ball across the line to give the visitors the lead. Acosta doubled the advantage two minutes later, driving a low free kick underneath the Revolution wall and past a diving Henrich Ravas.

The Revolution forced their way back into the match with a flurry of late chances, ultimately finishing with a 17-13 advantage in shot attempts. Vrioni was able to cut the deficit in half with a solo effort in the 62nd minute, winning possession before driving towards goal and creating a shot on his left foot, which he delivered into the bottom-left corner. Vrioni now has two goals in all competitions this season, both coming this week after he tallied the equalizer at LD Alajuelense on Thursday night in Concacaf Champions Cup action. The Albanian international has now recorded 12 goals and four assists in all competitions for New England.

Forward Tomás Chancalay remained a key figure in New England’s attack, hitting the woodwork twice on the afternoon. In the 33rd minute, Chancalay had a shot denied by the post from a narrow angle. In the 80th minute, Chancalay slipped in behind the Cincinnati backline, popping his chip shot over Roman Celentano and off the top of the crossbar. Revolution captain Carles Gil returned to the lineup to play 90 minutes in the match.

Revolution goalkeeper Henrich Ravas and midfielder Esmir Bajraktarević continued to appear in every match for the club this season, both earning a spot in the starting lineup on Sunday. Ravas, Bajraktarević, and Noel Buck will all depart the club this week to join their respective national teams. Ravas will represent Slovakia, while Bajraktarević will join the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team and Buck will head to the England Under-19 National Team.

New England continues its MLS regular season schedule this Saturday, March 23, hosting Chicago Fire FC. The 2:00 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium 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

• Giacomo Vrioni tallied his second goal across all competitions, his first in league play, and led the Revolution with two shots on target in the match. 
• DeJuan Jones made his 150th appearance with the club across all competitions, logging the full 90 minutes at left back. 
• Dave Romney started to mark his 50th appearance for New England across all competitions. The defender has appeared in every match since joining the club last season and has recorded 39 consecutive 90-minute performances in regular season action. 
• Tomás Chancalay finished with a team-high six shots and successfully completed all five of his dribble attempts. 
• Mark-Anthony Kaye recorded team highs in possessions won (10), duels won (9), and tackles won (4). 
• Esmir Bajraktarević recorded two shots, one on target, in his 66 minutes of action, marking his eighth straight appearance of 2024.
• Nacho Gil entered the match for Bajraktarević in the 66th minute, also earning his eighth appearance in as many games to open the season.

GAME CAPSULE
New England Revolution 1 vs. FC Cincinnati 2
March 17, 2024 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Referee: Richonne Clark
Assistant Referees: Alberto Escovar (AR1), Diego Armando Parra (AR2)
Fourth Official: Lorant Varga
Video Assistant Referee: Dave Gantar
Weather: 59 degrees and partly cloudy.
Attendance: 14,557

Scoring Summary: 
CIN – Yuya Kubo 1 (Luciano Acosta 2) 52’
CIN – Luciano Acosta 1 (Unassisted) 54’ 
NE – Giacomo Vrioni 1 (Unassisted) 62’

Misconduct Summary: 
NE – Ian Harkes (Yellow Card – Hard Foul ) 48’
CIN – DeAndre Yedlin (Yellow Card – Time Wasting) 63’
CIN – Luca Orellano (Yellow Card – Tactical Foul) 69’
CIN – Luciano Acosta (Yellow Card – Hard Foul) 72’
NE – DeJuan Jones (Yellow Card – Hard Foul) 83’
CIN – Pavel Bucha (Yellow Card – Hard Foul) 85’
NE – Giacomo Vrioni (Yellow Card – Unsporting Behavior) 90’+4
NE – Nacho Gil (Yellow Card – Dissent) 90’+8
CIN – Aaron Boupendza (Yellow Card – Time Wasting) 90+9’ 

New England Revolution: Henrich Ravas; Nick Lima (Ryan Spaulding 67’), Henry Kessler, Dave Romney, DeJuan Jones; Ian Harkes (Emmanuel Boateng 87’), Mark-Anthony Kaye; Esmir Bajraktarević (Nacho Gil 67’), Tomás Chancalay, Carles Gil; Giacomo Vrioni.

Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr, Jonathan Mensah, Tommy McNamara, Noel Buck, Andrew Farrell.

FC Cincinnati: Roman Celentano; Kipp Keller (Ian Murphy 74’), Matt Miazga, Miles Robinson; Pavel Bucha, Malik Pinto (Luciano Acosta 46’); Yuya Kubo, Gerardo Valenzuela (Luca Orellano 46’), Sergio Santos (Aaroun Boupendza 67’), Corey Baird (Stiven Jimenez 87’), DeAndre Yedlin.

Substitutes Not Used: Evan Louro, Alvas Powell, Nick Hagglund, Bret Halsey