MONTREAL (August 24, 2024) – The New England Revolution (8-14-2; 26 pts.) returned to MLS play with a 5-0 victory on the road at CF Montreal (6-11-9; 27 pts.) on Saturday night at Stade Saputo. Bobby Wood opened the scoring with two first-half goals and Carles Gil marked his return to the lineup with a pair of assists, matching Steve Ralston (82) for the most assists in club history across all competitions. Forward Luca Langoni made his MLS debut, logging a goal and an assist off the bench in the second half. Ian Harkes pitched in with two assists as a substitute, while Giacomo Vrioni and Nick Lima also added goals.
New England got out on the front foot early, with Bobby Wood scoring just seven minutes into the contest. Carles Gil sprung a pass down the wing to Brandon Bye, who whipped in a cross to Wood at the top of the six-yard box for a one-time finish. Wood, making his 50th Revolution appearance, scored for the third straight match in all competitions. Bye logged his first assist in MLS this season, his second in as many games, before an ankle injury cut his night short only five minutes later.
Wood added a second goal in the 37th minute, giving the Hawaiian forward his first multi-goal game in MLS. With a loose ball in front, Wood took on three Montreal defenders and goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois, controlling the ball from the ground before sliding it into the bottom corner.
Gil, playing in his first match since June 22 after missing nine games with a leg injury, made it five straight MLS appearances with an assist, matching his own club record. The Spaniard also set up Nick Lima's tally in the 71st minute with a well-placed cross to the center of the penalty area, which Vrioni dummied to allow the defender to fire it home. Gil's second multi-assist performance of the campaign ties him for the most helpers by a Revolution player in all contests. Gil is now the fourth-fastest player in MLS history to reach 70 regular season assists, doing so in 151 games.
The second half saw the return of forwards Vrioni and Dylan Borrero from injury, who both came off the bench in the 66th minute. Langoni also entered the game for New England in the second half to make his club and MLS debut. Vrioni scored his seventh goal in his last seven league appearances, and nearly had a second goal called back for offside. Langoni finished the scoring four minutes later, firing a shot off the hands of Sirois off a feed from Dylan Borrero. The Argentine, who arrived on a club-record transfer from Boca Juniors, made history as the first Revolution player to register a goal and an assist in his debut for the club.
Ian Harkes was credited with a pair of secondary assists on the final two goals of the night, his first multi-assist game in MLS. In goal, Aljaž Ivačič collected his third shutout of the season with a four-save effort in goal. The backline was anchored by Lima, center backs Dave Romney and Xavier Arreaga, and full back Will Sands. The latter made his first Revolution start in his first league appearance for the club, and third across all competitions, replacing an injured Peyton Miller.
The Revolution are back on the road next Saturday, August 31, facing Western Conference foe Real Salt Lake. The 9:30 p.m. ET kickoff at America First Field is available to watch on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app in English and Spanish. Listen to the Revolution's local radio calls on 98.5 The Sports Hub (WBZ-FM), with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies, and on 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA in Portuguese.
MATCH NOTES
- New England is now unbeaten in five straight matches across all competitions (2-0-3).
- The Revolution scored five goals in a regular season match for the first time since a 5-0 victory at Inter Miami CF on July 17, 2021.
- New England last scored five goals in any match on July 26, 2023 in Leagues Cup action against Atlético de San Luis.
- Luca Langoni became the first Revolution player to record a goal and an assist in his club debut, after joining the club last week in a club-record transfer from Argentinian side CA Boca Juniors.
- Bobby Wood marked his 50th Revolution appearance in all competitions by scoring a brace, his third straight match with a goal. He tallied two goals in a match for the first time in his MLS career, finishing the night with three shots.
- Carles Gil made his return to the starting lineup, his first action since June 22, and tallied his second multi-assist game of the season. He finished the night with a game-high six key passes.
- This marks the fifth straight appearance in which Carles Gil has logged an assist, matching his own club record (regular season) for the third time in his Revolution tenure (last 2022).
- Gil is now tied with Steve Ralston (82) for the most assists in Revolution history cross all competitions. He is two away from the regular season record (72).
- Gil is now the fourth-fastest player in MLS history to reach 70 assists in the regular season, doing so in 151 appearances.
- Brandon Bye had the primary assist on Wood's early strike, his second straight match with a helper in all competitions.
- Nick Lima replaced the injured Bye, scoring his first goal in MLS this season and second for the club in all competitions.
- Giacomo Vrioni and Dylan Borrero both got on the scoresheet after entering the match in the 66th minute, marking their return to action after missing time with injuries.
- Vrioni scored his seventh goal in as many league appearances, while Borrero notched his third assist of the season.
- Ian Harkes assisted the final two goals of the night, the first multi-assist performance in his MLS career.
- Aljaž Ivačič improved to 7-7-1 this season, making four saves to collect his third clean sheet of the regular season.
- Will Sands logged his first Revolution start in his first league appearance for the club, and third across all competition. Tonight also marked his first MLS outing since May 18.
GAME CAPSULE
Revolution Match #24
MLS Matchday #29New England Revolution at CF Montreal
August 24, 2024 – Stade Saputo (Montreal, Quebec)
Referee: Ismir Pekmic
Assistant Referee: Lyes Arfa
Assistant Referee: Matthew Nelson
Fourth Official: Filip Dujic
Video Asst. Referee: Younes Marrakchi
Assistant VAR: Rene Parra
Weather: 73 degrees and partly cloudy
Attendance: 19,169
Scoring Summary:
NE - Bobby Wood 1 (Brandon Bye 1, Carles Gil 7) 7'
NE - Bobby Wood 2 (Unassisted) 37'
NE - Nick Lima 1 (Carles Gil 8) 71'
NE - Giacomo Vrioni 9 (Luca Langoni 1, Ian Harkes 2) 79'
NE - Luca Langoni 1 (Dylan Borrero 3, Ian Harkes 3) 83'
Misconduct Summary:
NE - Mark-Anthony Kaye (Yellow Card - Hard Foul) 30'
MTL - Bryce Duke (Yellow Card - Hard Foul) 82'
MTL - Raheem Edwards (Yellow Card - Hard Foul) 85'
New England Revolution: Aljaž Ivačič; Will Sands, Dave Romney, Xavier Arreaga, Brandon Bye (Nick Lima 12'); Mark-Anthony Kaye, Matt Polster; Emmanuel Boateng (Dylan Borrero 66'), Carles Gil **©** (Ian Harkes 77'), Esmir Bajraktarević (Luca Langoni 77'); Bobby Wood (Giacomo Vrioni 66').
Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Noel Buck, Jonathan Mensah, Tim Parker.
CF Montréal: Jonathan Sirois; Joaquín Sosa (Raheem Edwards 46'), Joel Waterman, George Campbell; Tom Pearce (Lassi Lappalainen 46'), Nathan Saliba, Samuel Piette © (Sunusi Ibrahim 62'), Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty; Caden Clark (Kwadwo Opoku 63'), Bryce Duke; Josef Martínez
Substitutes Not Used: Sebastian Breza, Fernando Álvarez, Dawid Bugaj, Gabriele Corbo, Victor Wanyama.
Full statistics available HERE.
