FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (2-0-0, 6 pts.) defeated Houston Dynamo FC (0-2-0, 0 pts.), 3-0, on Saturday night in the club’s 2023 home opener at Gillette Stadium. Midfielder Dylan Borrero, forward Bobby Wood, and defender Brandon Bye each registered their first goal-and-assist performances in MLS. Midfielders Carles Gil and Latif Blessing, who made his Revolution debut, and defender DeJuan Jones each tallied an assist.
With tonight’s victory, New England opens the season with consecutive wins, and begins a league campaign with back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2006. Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena collected his 50th MLS regular season victory in MLS play with New England.
Borrero, who tallied two shots on target, opened the scoring with a right-footed strike on assists from Bye and Wood in the 42nd minute, giving New England a 1-0 lead at halftime. Wood added on to the scoring with his first goal in a Revolution uniform in the 53rd minute, knocking home a left-footed shot on assists from Jones and Gil. Bye capped the scoring in the 65th minute, converting on assists from Blessing and Borrero with a right-footed shot deflected into the bottom-right corner of the net.
On the defensive end, goalkeeper Djordje Petrović tallied five saves en route to his ninth clean sheet in just 23 MLS appearances since joining the Revolution midway through the 2022 season. The 23-year-old from Serbia has logged points in nine of his 11 games played in Foxborough with a 5-2-4 record at Gillette Stadium. Newcomer Dave Romney suited up for his second consecutive start in central defense alongside Henry Kessler and guided the backline with a team-high nine clearances.
New England returns to action next Sunday, March 12 to take on defending MLS Cup champions Los Angeles FC at BMO Stadium. The match kicks off at 10:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Sunday’s match can also be heard on the radio on 98.5 The Sports Hub, with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies calling the action, and on 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA in Portuguese.
MATCH NOTES
- With tonight’s victory, the Revolution began the season with back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2006 (1-0-1).
- Bruce Arena, who logged his 50th regular season victory with New England tonight, made two changes to his Starting XI from last weekend’s victory at Charlotte FC, with Latif Blessing and Bobby Wood starting in place of Damian Rivera and Giacomo Vrioni, respectively.
- Dylan Borrero, Bobby Wood and Brandon Bye each registered their first goal-and-assist performances in MLS. Borrero opened the scoring for New England three minutes before halftime, while Wood and Bye added to the lead with second-half tallies.
- Borrero opened his 2023 account with a right-footed shot from the center of the box in the 42nd minute, with assists from Wood and Brandon Bye. The 21-year-old from Colombia finished the match with a team-high three shots, including two on target.
- Wood netted his first goal in a Revolution uniform on a left-footed shot in the 53rd minute, converting on assists from DeJuan Jones and Carles Gil. The 30-year-old forward posted a 69-minute outing in his home debut for the Revolution.
- Bye scored on a right-footed shot with assists from Borrero and Latif Blessing in the 65th minute. The sixth-year outside back also contributed on the defensive end with three interceptions and two fouls won.
- All three of New England’s veteran newcomers – midfielder Blessing, defender Dave Romney and forward Wood – featured in tonight’s Starting XI. Blessing, who played 85 minutes, collected his club debut while Wood logged his first start in a Revolution uniform. Romney started and played all 90 minutes for the second straight match.
- Goalkeeper Djordje Petrović made five saves in tonight’s win en route to his ninth MLS clean sheets in 23 appearances. His nine shutouts are seventh most in club history.
- Homegrown Player Noel Buck, a midfielder from Arlington, Mass., made his second consecutive start and logged 62 minutes with one shot. Fellow Homegrown Player Justin Rennicks also appeared in the match as a substitute in the second half.
GAME CAPSULE
New England Revolution 3, Houston Dynamo FC 0
March 4, 2023 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Brian Poeschel (AR1), Ian McKay (AR2)
Fourth Official: Alyssa Nichols
Video Assistant Referee: Kevin Broadley
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jeff Muschik
Weather: 32 degrees and windy
Attendance: 13,176
Scoring Summary:
NE- Dylan Borrero 1 (Bobby Wood 1, Brandon Bye 1) 42’
NE- Bobby Wood 1 (DeJuan Jones 1, Carles Gil 1) 53’
NE- Brandon Bye 1 (Dylan Borrero 1, Latif Blessing 1) 65’
Misconduct Summary:
HOU- Griffin Dorsey (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 18’
HOU- Coco Carrasquilla (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 24’
HOU- Steve Clark (Yellow Card- Time Wasting) 37’
NE- Noel Buck (Yellow Card- Infringement) 46’
HOU- Ethan Bartlow (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 87’
NE- DeJuan Jones (Yellow Card- Hard Foul) 88’
New England Revolution: Djordje Petrović; DeJuan Jones, Dave Romney, Henry Kessler, Brandon Bye; Noel Buck (Christian Makoun 62’), Matt Polster, Carles Gil ©, Latif Blessing (Justin Rennicks 85’); Bobby Wood (Giacomo Vrioni 69’), Dylan Borrero (Emmanuel Boateng 69’)
Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Jozy Altidore, Esmir Bajraktarević, Omar Gonzalez, Damian Rivera
Houston Dynamo FC: Steve Cark, Ethan Bartlow, Teenage Hadebe, Tate Schmitt, Griffin Dorsey; Artur (Luis Caicedo 77’), Ivan Franco (Amine Bassi 63’), Hector Herrera ©, Coco Carrasquilla; Corey Baird (Nelson Quinones 66’), Thor Ulfarsson (Sebastian Ferreira 59’)
Substitutes Not Used: Micael dos Santos, Mujeeb Murana, Brooklyn Raines, Daniel Steres, Andrew Tarbell
Full statistics available HERE.
