FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (September 28, 2024) – The New England Revolution (9-17-4; 31 pts.) defeated Nashville SC (8-14-9; 33 pts.), 1-0, on Saturday night in front of 42,312 fans at Gillette Stadium, the fifth-largest home crowd in club history. Brandon Bye headed home his first goal of the season in the 86th minute, assisted by two of New England's summer signings, Luca Langoni and Alhassan Yusuf.
In their penultimate home match of the season, the Revolution dueled Nashville to a scoreless first half, which featured two saves from Revolution goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič. Making his 75th MLS appearance, Ivačič made a point-blank stop on Alex Muyl's attempt in the eighth minute, and then denied Sam Surridge with a quick reaction in the 26th minute. Ivačič finished the night with four saves to collect his fourth shutout of the season.
New England took advantage of the home support to apply pressure in the second half. Giacomo Vrioni, the Revs' leading scorer on the year, recorded two shot attempts, both of which were blocked. The Revolution finally broke the deadlock in the 86th minute when Bye got his head to a precise cross from Langoni. The assist was Langoni's second in MLS, and his fourth goal involvement through his first seven MLS matches.
Yusuf, making his fourth appearance and second consecutive start since joining the club in late August, was credited with a secondary assist on the play. The helper was his first with New England. Including tonight's victory, the Nigerian midfielder has completed over 90 percent of his passes in each of his first four appearances with the Revolution.
Behind Yusuf in central defense, Dave Romney helped deliver the clean sheet against his former club, while Xavier Arreaga recorded his 100th MLS regular season start, coming on his 30th birthday. Meanwhile, Homegrown defender Peyton Miller notched his fifth consecutive start, playing all 90 minutes for the fourth time in that span.
The Revs hit the road for a midweek match on Wednesday, October 2 at Houston Dynamo FC, before returning to Foxborough for the regular season home finale on Saturday, Oct. 5 vs. D.C. United. Wednesday's 8:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston is available to watch on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app (English and Spanish). Listen on 98.5 The Sports Hub (WBZ-FM) and 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA (Portuguese).
MATCH NOTES
- Saturday's crowd of 42,312 marks the fifth-largest home attendance in club history, fourth largest in the regular season.
- Defender Brandon Bye's headed goal was the 10th tally of his MLS regular season career.
- After his primary assist tonight, winger Luca Langoni now has four goal contributions in 384 minutes played, with two goals and two assists.
- Midfielder Alhassan Yusuf completed 90.4 percent of his passes tonight, recording his first assist. The 24-year-old is completing his passes at 94.1 percent clip through four games.
- Defender Xavier Arreaga celebrated his 30th birthday by making his 100th MLS start in the clean-sheet win.
- Goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič played in his 75th MLS match, registering four saves.
GAME CAPSULE
Revolution Match #30
MLS Matchday #35
New England Revolution 1 vs. Nashville SC 0
September 28, 2024 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Referee: Marcos DeOliveira
Assistant Referee: Jason White
Assistant Referee: Diego Blas
Fourth Official: Jeremy Scheer
Video Asst. Referee: Sorin Stoica
Assistant VAR: Tom Supple
Weather: 68 degrees and partly cloudy
Attendance: 42,312
Scoring Summary:
NE – Brandon Bye 1 (Luca Langoni 2, Alhassan Yusuf 1) 86’
Misconduct Summary:
NSH – Shaq Moore (Yellow Card – Tactical Foul) 41’
NE – Matt Polster (Yellow Card – Hard Foul) 43’
New England Revolution: Aljaž Ivačič; Peyton Miller, Xavier Arreaga, Dave Romney, Brandon Bye; Alhassan Yusuf, Matt Polster; Emmanuel Boateng (Esmir Bajraktarević 62’), Carles Gil ©, Luca Langoni (Tim Parker 89’); Giacomo Vrioni (Bobby Wood 79’).
Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Andrew Farrell, Nacho Gil, Ian Harkes, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Jonathan Mensah.
Nashville SC: Joe Willis; Daniel Lovitz, Jack Maher, Shaq Moore, Walker Zimmerman ©; Hany Mukhtar, Teal Bunbury (Jacob Shaffelburg 62’), Alex Muyl (Randall Leal 79’), Anibal Godoy (Patrick Yazbek 62’); Brian Anunga (Sean Davis 79’), Sam Surridge.
Substitutes Not Used: Elliot Panicco, Josh Bauer, Taylor Washington, Julian Gaines, Brent Kallman.
Full statistics available HERE.
