FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (10-9-8, 38 pts.) defeated the Chicago Fire (8-12-9, 33 pts.), 2-1, at Gillette Stadium on Saturday evening. Revolution forward Gustavo Bou scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute to secure the win, as New England remains in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Wilfried Zahibo opened the scoring in the 17th minute with his first goal of the season, before Chicago's Francisco Calvo responded with an equalizer shortly before the half to level the score.
Bou's goal is his fifth through seven MLS appearances, including his second game winner. Dating back to his debut on July 17, his five goals scored are tied for fourth most league-wide. Fellow newcomer Carles Gil collected his 12th assist of the season on Wilfried Zahibo's first-half goal, moving him into a tie with Michael Barrios for fourth most in MLS on the season. Gil has recorded a goal or an assist in nine of the Revolution's last 12 games. Brandon Bye, credited with the primary assist on the goal, now has two helpers in 2019. Goalkeeper Matt Turner, who signed a multi-year contract extension with the Revolution on Wednesday, registered four saves in the win.
New England returns to MLS action Saturday, Aug. 31 against Toronto FC at Gillette Stadium. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and in Portuguese on 1260 AM Nossa Radio.
New England Revolution 2, Chicago Fire 1
August 24, 2019 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
New England Defeats Chicago Fire, 2-1
·The Revolution defeated the Fire, 2-1, on Saturday night, moving the club's record to 10-9-8 (38 pts.) on the season, including a 7-5-2 record at Gillette Stadium.
·New England's all-time record against Chicago improves to 22-28-12, including a 17-11-3 mark in games played in Foxborough. The win snaps New England's seven-game winless run against Chicago.
·With the win, New England (38 points; 27 games played) moves within one point of D.C. United (39 points; 29 games played) for fifth place in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand, and three points back of the New York Red Bulls (41 points; 28 games played) for fourth place with one game in hand.
Bou Scores Fifth Goal in Seventh MLS Appearance
·Forward Gustavo Bou scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute, marking the team's second-latest game-winning goal of the season and Bou’s second winner of the year.
·Since Bou debuted for the Revs on July 17, only Atlanta's Josef Martinez, LAFC's Carlos Vela, and LA's Zlatan Ibrahimović have scored more goals in MLS play.
·Bou's 0.75 goals per 90 minutes ranks seventh among MLS players with at least 500 minutes played this season.
Gil Records 12th Assist of Debut Season
·Midfielder Carles Gil continued his torrid run of form with an assist on Wilfried Zahibo's goal in the 17thminute.
·Gil has collected 12 assists this season, which is tied with FC Dallas' Michael Barrios for fourth-most in MLS this year and the most among newcomers.
·Since Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena took over on the sidelines on June 2, Gil has recorded a goal or an assist in 10 of 12 games.
·The Spaniard registered two chances created, one foul won, and 83 touches in 90 minutes tonight.
Zahibo Opens 2019 Account
·Midfielder Wilfried Zahibo scored his first goal of 2019 in the 17th minute, when he slotted a cross from Brandon Bye inside of the near post.
·He now owns five goals for his MLS career after scoring four times in his debut season, with four assists, with the Revolution in 2018.
·Zahibo finished tonight's match with team highs in touches (92) and passes (81) in 90 minutes of action.
Fagundez Registers 175th Career Start with Revs
·Midfielder Diego Fagundez recorded the 175th start of his MLS career in tonight's contest.
·The 24-year old ranks eighth in games started in club history, and will match Lee Nguyen for seventh place with 10 more starts. He also ranks fifth in club history in games played with 237.
·Fagundez recorded 57 touches with two tackles in 64 minutes in tonight's match.
Arena Makes Four Changes to Starting XI
·The Revolution's starting lineup saw four changes from the club’s last match on August 17 at New York Red Bulls. Andrew Farrell, DeJuan Jones, Diego Fagundez, and Wilfried Zahibo replaced Edgar Castillo, Scott Caldwell, Juan Agudelo, and Jalil Anibaba.
·Castillo was ruled out for today's match with a rib injury, suffered in last week’s match against the New York Red Bulls.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Assistant Referees: Cory Richardson (AR1), CJ Morgante (AR2)
Fourth Official: Marcos DeOliveira
Video Assistant Referee: Alan Kelly
Weather: 65° and Clear
Attendance: 16,236
Scoring Summary:
NE – Wilfried Zahibo 1 (Brandon Bye 2, Carles Gil 12) 17'
CHI – Francisco Calvo 2 (Nicolás Gaitán 10) 41'
NE – Gustavo Bou 5 (Unassisted) 86'
Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Nicolás Gaitán (Yellow Card – Unsporting Behavior) 1'
NE – Michael Mancienne (Yellow Card – Unsporting Behavior) 30'
NE – Gustavo Bou (Yellow Card – Delaying the restart of play) 87'
CHI – Micheal Azira (Yellow Card – Unsporting Behavior) 90'+1'
NE – Juan Agudelo (Yellow Card – Unsporting Behavior) 90'+6'
New England Revolution: Matt Turner; DeJuan Jones, Andrew Farrell, Michael Mancienne, Brandon Bye; Luis Caicedo (Juan Fernando Caicedo 78'), Wilfried Zahibo; Diego Fagundez (Juan Agudelo 64'), Carles Gil ©, Gustavo Bou; Teal Bunbury (Cristian Penilla 12')
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Jalil Anibaba, Scott Caldwell, Tajon Buchanan
Chicago Fire: Kenneth Kronholm; Jonathan Bornstein (Fabian Herbers 88'), Francisco Calvo, Micheal Azira, Johan Kappelhof; Nicolás Gaitán, Dax McCarty, Brandt Bronico; C.J. Sapong, Przemyslaw Frankowski; Nemanja Nikolic (Djordje Mihailovic 75')
Substitutes Not Used: Richard Sanchez, Marcelo, Grant Lillard, Jeremiah Gutjahr, Diego Campos
