FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (19-4-5; 62 pts.) defeated Orlando City SC (10-8-8; 38 pts.), 2-1, on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. Forward Adam Buksa netted the opening goal of the night on a right-footed strike in the ninth minute. Orlando’s Darryl Dike delivered an equalizer for the visitors nine minutes later, before the Revolution reclaimed the lead via an own goal in the 35th minute. Goalkeeper Matt Turner denied Nani’s penalty-kick attempt in the 75th minute to preserve the 2-1 victory.
With tonight’s club-record 19th win of the season, the Revolution have eclipsed the 60-point threshold for the first time. The result guarantees the Revs a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference, ensuring they will open the 2021 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs at home. New England remains the winningest home team in MLS at 11-1-2 this season, moving within one home victory of the club’s all-time mark. Through the end of Saturday’s MLS action, the Revolution hold an 18-point lead atop the Eastern Conference table, with a 16-point edge in the race for the Supporters’ Shield.
Buksa scored his 12th goal of the season to move into a tie with Gustavo Bou for the Revolution team lead. The Polish international has scored eight goals in his last 14 MLS appearances. Bou contributed the primary assist on Buksa’s opening goal, delivering a pinpoint cross to the Pole’s left foot after a streaking run from near midfield. Bou’s six assists are third most on the squad, while Tommy McNamara also provided a helper on the play.
Turner recorded his 25th career win at Gillette Stadium and remains an unbeaten 10-0-2 in Foxborough this season. The sixth-year goalkeeper made two saves tonight, including his 75th-minute penalty-kick denial. Since 2018, Turner has saved four of 10 penalty kick attempts in the regular season or playoffs, giving him the league’s second-best save percentage on penalties during that span. Turner now owns a career-high 14 wins on the year.
Meanwhile, defender Brandon Bye submitted his 100th MLS appearance. The fourth-year pro led New England with team highs in possession gained (9), tackles (4), and interceptions (3). New England’s defense has conceded one goal or fewer in four of the last five matches.
Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena improved his career record to 237-135-110, including a 35-14-21 (.650) mark through 70 games with New England. With six games remaining, Arena is now three wins away from matching Sigi Schmid (240) for the most regular season victories in MLS history.
New England will visit CF Montreal on Wednesday, September 29. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on WSBK-TV38, myRITV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and 1260 AM Nossa Radio.
POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 2, Orlando City SC 1
September 25, 2021 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Team Notes:
- The New England Revolution defeated Orlando City SC, 2-1, on Saturday night in front of a season-high crowd of 23,506 at Gillette Stadium to improve to 19-5-4 (62 pts.).
- New England’s 19 wins and 62 points both represent club records.
- Through Saturday’s action, the Revolution lead the Eastern Conference by 18 points and hold a 16-point advantage in the Supporters’ Shield standings.
- The Revolution’s 2.21 points per game through 28 matches keep the team on pace to challenge the MLS records for points (72 – LAFC, 2019) and points per game (2.13 – LA Galaxy, 1998).
- With Saturday’s victory, New England secured homefield advantage for its opening game of the 2021 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, as the Revs are now guaranteed at least a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference.
- New England’s all-time regular season record against Orlando City SC improves to 5-2-5, including an unbeaten 5-0-1 mark at Gillette Stadium.
- The Revs’ 53 goals and 28 first-half tallies both lead the league, while the team’s +20 goal differential is currently tied for the best mark in MLS this season. New England is two goals away from matching the most goals scored in a season in club history (55).
- New England’s home unbeaten streak now stands at eight games (6-0-2) as the Revs’ home record improves to 11-1-2. The winningest home team in MLS this season, the Revs need one more home win over the final three games to tie the club record (12 – 2017).
- The Revolution remain on course to set a new club record for fewest losses in a season (7 – 2005).
Individual Notes:
- Bruce Arena improved his career record to 237-135-110, three shy of Sigi Schmid’s all-time MLS record of 240 regular season victories. Arena’s record with New England also climbed to 35-14-21 (.650).
- Adam Buksa scored his 12th goal of the season, tied for the team lead with Gustavo Bou. Buksa, who has scored 11 times in his last 15 games across all competitions with New England and the Poland National Team, also notched a team-high four shots. He is now 11 shots away from setting a new single-season mark for the club (Wolde Harris – 101, 2000).
- Gustavo Bou recorded an assist on Buksa’s opening goal, his sixth of the season, to mark his second consecutive match with a helper. Bou ranks third on the team with six assists and added a team-high three key passes on the night.
- Tommy McNamara recorded a secondary assist on Buksa’s opening goal, giving him four on the year. McNamara completed 90 percent of his passes to go along with seven recoveries and three tackles.
- Matt Turner notched his career-best 14th win of the season, two shy of the Revolution single-season record for a goalkeeper, as he remains unbeaten in Foxborough this year (10-0-2).
- Turner secured the win with two saves, including denying Nani from the penalty spot in the 75th minute. With four saves in 10 career penalty attempts faced across the MLS regular season and playoffs, Turner owns the second-best penalty save rate in the league since 2018 behind Kansas City’s Tim Melia.
- In the last meeting with Orlando in the 2020 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Turner also preserved a 2-1 lead by denying Nani from the penalty spot in the 74th minute.
- Brandon Bye made his 100th MLS appearance, all with New England, and marked the occasion with team highs in recoveries (9), duels won (7), tackles (4), and interceptions (3).
- Carles Gil had a team-high 80 touches on the night, creating two chances and completing 92.9 percent of his passes.
- Matt Polster completed a team-high 55 passes and added seven recoveries.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Rosendo Mendez
Assistant Referees: Peter Balciunas (AR1), Jeremy Kieso (AR2)
Fourth Official: Luis Arroyo
Video Assistant Referee: Alan Kelly
Weather: 68 and cloudy
Attendance: 23,506
Scoring Summary:
NE – Adam Buksa 12 (Gustavo Bou 6, Tommy McNamara 4) 9’
ORL – Daryl Dike 4 (Mauricio Pereyra 10) 18’
NE – Rodrigo Schlegel (Own Goal) 35’
Misconduct Summary:
ORL – Benji Michel (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 19’
ORL – Robin Jansson (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 39’
NE – Tajon Buchanan (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 80’
New England Revolution: Matt Turner; Brandon Bye, Andrew Farrell, Henry Kessler, DeJuan Jones; Matt Polster, Tommy McNamara, Carles Gil ©, Tajon Buchanan (Arnór Traustason 84’, Jon Bell 90+7’); Gustavo Bou (Teal Bunbury 90+3’), Adam Buksa
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, A.J. DeLaGarza, Christian Mafla, Scott Caldwell, Wilfrid Kaptoum, Luis Caicedo
Orlando City SC: Pedro Gallese; Ruan, Joao Mutinho, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel (Kyle Smith 87’); Sebastian Mendez (Silvester van der Water 70’), Mauricio Pereyra ©, Junior Urso, Andres Perea (Tesho Akindele 87’); Daryl Dike, Benji Michel (Nani 57’)
Substitutes Not Used: E. Mas, Tesho Akindele, Alexander Alvarado, Raul Aguilera, Rio Hope-Gund, Adam Grinwis
