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MLS New England Revolution

Revolution Top CF Montréal, 2-1

July 25, 2021 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution (10-3-3; 33 pts.) defeated CF Montréal (6-5-4; 22 pts.), 2-1, at Gillette Stadium on Sunday evening, becoming the first MLS team to reach 10 victories this season. Gustavo Bou scored both of the game's two goals, first scoring from beyond the penalty arc with his right foot before doubling the Revolution's lead in the 73rd minute. Montreal's Djordje Mihailovic pulled one back for the visitors in the 79', snapping New England's shutout streak at 325 minutes.

Bou's brace gives him nine goals on the season, moving him into sole possession of third place in the Major League Soccer Golden Boot race. The two goals also lift the team's total to 30 tallies on the year, most in the league. Bou's nine strikes match his previous single-season career high set in 2019, as he has now scored eight times in his last nine appearances. Only Seattle's Raul Ruidiaz (11) and LA's Chicarito (10) have scored more times this season.

Arnór Traustason registered his third assist of the season on Bou's first goal, while Carles Gil and Brandon Bye were credited with the assists on the second. Gil now owns 13 helpers this year, more than double that of any other MLS player. He remains on pace to smash the club's single-season assists record of 19 and challenge the MLS single-season record of 26. Bye's assist was his second of the campaign - matching his previous single-season career high set in 2018 and met in 2019.

In net, Brad Knighton made three saves and improved his record as the Revolution's starter to 3-1-0 this season. Ahead of him on the backline was Christian Mafla, who logged his second straight start in an 89-minute outing, and center back Andrew Farrell. Farrell made his 255th appearance for the club, moving into third place all-time, and also claimed sole possession of the most minutes played since the start of the 2013 season. The ninth-year defender now owns the most games played, starts, and minutes played since he entered the league.

New England returns to action on Saturday, July 31, when the club visits the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. The match kicks off at 6:00 p.m. ET and will air locally on WSBK-TV38, myRITV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and WBIX 1260 AM Nossa Radio.

POSTGAME NOTES

New England Revolution 2, CF Montreal 1

July 25, 2021 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Team Notes:

The New England Revolution defeated CF Montreal, 2-1, on Sunday night to improve to 10-3-3 (33 points) on the season.

New England is the first MLS team to reach 10 wins this year. This is the second-fewest games the club has ever taken to reach the double-digit victories.

The win improves New England's record to 13-10-3 in the all-time series with Montreal, including a 7-4-1 mark at home.

New England has been in first place in the Eastern Conference since May 16. With the win, the Revs now lead second-place Nashville by seven points with one game in hand.

New England's 30 goals scored are most in MLS, while the team's +11 goal differential is tied for second best. The club's 17 first-half goals are most in MLS.

New England improves to 6-1-0 at home this season and own the best home-winning percentage (.857) in MLS. The club's six home wins are currently tied with Nashville SC for the most in MLS. Nashville has played 11 home games to the Revs' seven.

New England saw its shutout streak of 324 minutes snapped on Sunday in the 79th minute, the fourth-longest streak without conceding in MLS this season.

New England took all nine points its three-game week, including wins against Atlanta on July 17, Inter Miami on July 21, and Montreal on July 25. It marks the club's first nine-point week since 2014, when the Revs won three consecutive games across eight days from Aug. 30 - Sept. 7.

Individual Notes:

Today's starting group featured four changes from Wednesday's 5-0 win at Inter Miami, as Brandon Bye, Matt Polster, Wilfrid Kaptoum, and Gustavo Bou started in place of A.J. DeLaGarza, Maciel, Tommy McNamara, and Teal Bunbury.

Forward Gustavo Bou scored his first brace in MLS regular season play, and his second with the club including the playoffs. Bou leads the team with nine goals on the year, placing him third in the MLS Golden Boot race this season. Bou also had a team-high four chances created on the night.

Captain and midfielder Carles Gil provided his league-leading 13th assist of the season, a secondary assist on Bou's game-winning goal. Gil recorded three shots, including one on target, as well as two chances created and a team high 67 touches. He also had a goal disallowed in the first half for an offside call in the buildup.

Midfielder Arnór Traustason picked up his third assist of the season on Bou's first-half strike, his first helper since May 1. Traustason has now factored into three goals over the past two matches (two goals, one assist) and finished Sunday's contest with three tackles, three recoveries, two shots, and one interception.

New England's trio of Designated Players -Gustavo Bou, Adam Buksa, and Carles Gil - started together for the sixth time this season. The trio of international attackers has combined to total 18 goals and 17 assists through New England's first 16 games, factoring into 25 of the team's MLS-best 30 goals this season.

Defender Brandon Bye recorded his second assist of the season, his first since May 16, on Bou's winning goal. Bye finished the contest with team highs in clearances (4) and interceptions (3) to go along with eight recoveries, two tackles, and one blocked shot. Bye also eclipsed 7,000 career minutes played in the victory.

Defender Andrew Farrell made his 255th appearance for New England on Sunday, passing Matt Reis for the third-most in club history behind Shalrie Joseph and Diego Fagundez (261). Farrell finished the night with team highs in recoveries (11) and blocked shots (3).

Farrell also surpassed Luis Robles for the most MLS minutes played since the start of the 2013 season. Farrell - who has never missed more than five games in a season - leads all MLS players in appearances, starts, and minutes played since he entered the league as the first-overall SuperDraft pick in 2013.

Brad Knighton collected his fourth consecutive start, making three saves as he improved his record to 3-1-0 this season. Knighton is also 3-1-0 in his career against Montreal.

Knighton moved past Adin Brown for the fifth-most minutes played in goal in club history (4,425) and also surpassed Walter Zenga for the sixth-most saves in club history (169).

Midfielder Matt Polster logged his 10th 90-minute outing of the season, completing 89.5 percent of his passes with seven possessions gained.

Defender Christian Mafla collected his second straight start at left back and his fourth appearance of the season. Mafla, who owns three starts, played a season-high 89 minutes.

Defender Jon Bell and forward Adam Buksa both left Sunday's game with injuries. Bell played 62 minutes, finishing with four clearances and 93.8 percent of his passes completed. Buksa recorded one shot on target in 36 minutes.

GAME CAPSULE

REFEREE: Alex Chilowicz

Assistant Referees: Nick Uranga (AR1); Brian Dunn (AR2)

4th: Matthew Corrigan

Video Assistant Referee: Malik Badawi

Weather: 73 degrees and cloudy

Attendance: 18,217

Scoring Summary:

NE - Gustavo Bou 8 (Arnór Traustason 3) 29'

NE - Gustavo Bou 9 (Brandon Bye 2, Carles Gil 13) 73'

MTL - Djordje Mihailovic 3 (Joaquín Torres 2) 79'

Misconduct Summary:

NE - Tommy McNamara (Yellow Card - Bad Foul) 90'

NE - Christian Mafla (Yellow Card - Bad Foul) 90'+4

New England Revolution: Brad Knighton, Christian Mafla (Scott Caldwell 90'+5), Andrew Farrell, Jon Bell (A.J. DeLaGarza 62'), Brandon Bye, Matt Polster, Wilfrid Kaptoum (Maciel 63'), Arnór Traustason (Tommy McNamara 63'), Carles Gil ©, Gustavo Bou, Adam Buksa (Teal Bunbury 29').

Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Emmanuel Boateng.

CF Montreal: James Pantemis; Mathieu Choinière (Ibrahim Sunusi 84'), Joel Waterman, Rudy Camacho, Zorhan Ludovic Bassong (Mustafa Kizza 84'); Victor Wanyama, Djordje Mihailovic, Emanuel Maciel (Ahmed Hamdi 84'), Lassi Lappalainen (Zachary Brault-Guillard 75'); Joaquín Torres, Mason Toye (Bjørn Maars Johnsen 84').

Substitutes Not Used: Sebastian Breza, Clément Bayiha.

New England Revolution Team Statistics CF Montreal

13 (4) Shots (on Target) 20 (4)

3 Blocked Shots 8

3 Saves 2

2 Corner Kicks 4

4 Offsides 1

14 Fouls 7

335 (76.1%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 481 (82.1%)

41.2% Possession 58.8%

POSTGAME QUOTES

New England Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena

On the injury status of Jon Bell and Adam Buksa:

Arena: "We'll obviously know more in the next day or two."

On the performance of Christian Mafla:

Arena: "Better than the last game. Obviously, he got tired at the end. We got caught a little bit with substitutions. We only had one extra defender tonight and when [Jon] Bell went down, it made things a little bit tough and we had to keep him in a little bit longer. But much improved performance than the one we saw in Miami."

On the versatility that A.J. DeLaGarza brings to the team:

Arena: "That's why he's here. He's an experienced player that can play right across the back line and you see how that has paid dividends in the last two games."

On if the team came out flat to start the first half:

Arena: "The start? No, but they made a couple of good plays down our left side of the field. That's not coming out flat - that's making some poor decisions."

On the performance of Arnór Traustason:

Arena: "Good player. Good, experienced player. Could've got a goal tonight. Won some tackles. Good effort defensively. He's playing well."

On VAR:

Arena: "I think is a great tool. I don't think it's used efficiently in the league. My guess is the second offside goal they called back was probably on from what we could tell. There's no point in having VAR if they don't correct mistakes. That's the whole purpose of having that tool. And we've been part of so many plays this year that I think they've had wrong. I think there's ways of correcting the VAR and I think it needs to be centralized. You have too many different people analyzing plays in every market, in every game, and I think it contributes to inconsistency. So that's why, I believe, like they do in some of the leagues, that it should be centralized. That's my two cents. I'll leave it at that."

On the depth of the squad and the ability to interchange pieces from game to game:

Arena: "We've done that all year. It's important. That's the purpose of doing it early in the year, is for the months of July, August, September, when there are a lot of games and a lot of challenges. So, I think it's paying dividends. We have a lot of confidence in our midfield. I think moving [Teal] Bunbury in as our third striker has been good. So tonight, you look at it - we have three national team call-ups, you have [DeJuan] Jones injured, [Adam] Buksa goes down, and [Jon] Bell goes down. That's six players already and we're hanging in there with everybody. So, the depth has been a positive."

On if there is a possible need to call up players from the Revolution II:

Arena: "On our second team? I don't think so."

On if there was any specific reason why Adam Buksa was not immediately substituted from the game:

Arena: "I don't know. I didn't go to medical school."

On if the concussion protocol has been efficient:

Arena: "In that particular situation where he went down the second time, you can use a concussion substitution, which we probably didn't do right. We could've substituted Adam [Buksa] on a concussion protocol and still had five substitutions left. And we probably did that part wrong. So, I think that part of the protocol is correct. I don't know if the player has a concussion. I think the injury is to the cheek bone, even though I could be mistaken. So, I don't know exactly with that. I may need to be corrected. I'm not exactly sure why he came out the second time, but I do know that he has an issue with his cheek bone. Whether that's a combination of a possible concussion with a fracture, I really don't know."

Revolution Forward Gustavo Bou

*Quotes translated from Spanish*

On scoring his eighth and ninth goals tonight, and competing for the MLS Golden Boot:

Bou: "I know I'm up there, but I'm not really thinking about it. I compete, and my objective is to compete to help the team win. The rest of the individual accolades are not things that I'm thinking about."

On if he's had an opportunity to speak with Adam Buksa:

Bou: "Just now [since the game ended], no, I haven't seen him. But at halftime I did get a chance to chat with him and he said he was feeling a little dizzy. Hopefully, now that it's been a while, he's had a chance to recover and feel better."

On what he saw leading into his first goal in the 27th minute:

Bou: "What I saw [on the play] was a chance to shoot the ball and find the goal, more than anything. I think the goalkeeper wasn't really expecting it, but I was lucky to convert, and I think that play really helped the team most of all."

On the team's movement in the attacking third:

Bou: "I feel good. We came in playing well, both on the road and at home. We're all gaining confidence and that's evident on the field. If we can continue to be confident, it'll bode well for the team. The guys in the back line, in the midfield are all playing with confidence, and hopefully we can continue that."

On taking nine points from a three-game week:

Bou: "I think it was an objective for us to get all three wins. It really feels good, honestly. It gives us a lot of confidence moving forward to hopefully remain on top of the standings throughout the rest of the season."

On extending the win streak to three straight victories and earning three points at home:

Bou: "I'm happy. It feels good to win at home with our fans. It's been a while since we've been able to see the emotion and the adrenaline that the crowd provides to us. It was nice to interact with the crowd and score a few goals. I also saw my family, too, which was nice to enjoy the moment with them."

On Christian Mafla's performance:

Bou: "Good. I know Mafla hasn't played a lot, but he's training in the best possible form to help the team. Today, I saw him a little more loose than the first game [at Inter Miami CF on Wednesday]. He's going to keep feeling better with more games under his belt. Mafla, like the rest of the team, we all played well tonight and I think that was an objective for us. It was key for us to get the win tonight."

Revolution Goalkeeper Brad Knighton

On the club's pregame tribute to Paul Mariner:

Knighton: "Anytime we start talking about Paul [Mariner], I get a little choked up. What they did -- the club - for Paul was something special and something I'll always remember. I'm sure his family will see it and think it'll be an unbelievable tribute to Paul and the life that he lived."

On picking up a knock in the closing moments of the match:

Knighton: "Yeah, I'm fine. I think I just scrubbed myself on the turf. I was at full stretch trying to cover the post, but I should be fine."

On CF Montreal nearly equalizing:

Knighton: "You take every minute like it's the last. You kind of take it in banks of five if you can, five minutes here, five minutes there. Ultimately and hopefully, you get to the 90-minute mark and you still got to zero. It was tough to concede with about 12 minutes left or 10 minutes, something like that, you know you're in for a dogfight then. Once we conceded the chance, it was kind of lockdown mode and kind of everybody remain calm, do the small things right that we've done the last two games before that, and just being sound defensively and seeing the game out properly."

On the depth of the team being tested:

Knighton: "I've said since preseason, I think we've got the deepest team that I've ever been a part of here at the Revolution. For us to go through the stretches where we've got three games in a week, we've got international call-ups, we've got injuries, guys are going to have to step up when their name is called. This week, guys have done that. Guys haven't played at all this season that have gotten an opportunity and made the most of it and I think that's going to be the case. Guys prepare every day at training, ready for the opportunity to step in and everyone knows their specific role when they step into that position. So, things should move pretty smoothly. We've got a lot of veteran guys back there as well that are going to help the younger guys along should they get an opportunity as well."

On the club competing for the Supporters' Shield nearing the midway point of the season:

Knighton: "Yeah, it's nice looking down for once. I've been here probably 12 years now and my first year here in '07, we had a very good team. We lost in the MLS Cup Final, we were one of the best teams in the league, and winning was a habit here. Since Bruce [Arena] has been here, that's been the case. Things have turned around and we've gotten to winning ways. It's nice being on top and not chasing points. So, it's week-in and week-out, win the week, and then move on to the next week. We're doing it day-by-day, piece-by-piece, and game-by-game. We're not looking at the bigger picture right now, but it was a hell of a week for us to get nine points this week, I'll tell you that.

On the importance of Gustavo Bou's opening goal shortly after Carles Gil's goal was disallowed:

Knighton: "Massive. That goal being disallowed can take the wind out of your sails and for us to respond the way they did, some teams, with the fans booing and very upset with the situation, it would be easy to go relax and chill and concede a goal then and there. But we stayed on the front foot, we stayed proactive, and Gustavo [Bou] can change the game in an instant like he did, and we've seen it many times before. It was much needed and it kind of took the wind out of their sails a little bit and kind of pepped us up a little bit. So, it was a great goal by Gustavo, and it definitely set the tone for the rest of the game."

On if the team was disappointed that Montreal got back into the game:

Knighton: "Look, three points in this league is three points. There's no easy game. The game in Miami the other night, obviously the score was the score, but the game was a tough game. You've got to come in with the right mentality. Anybody can beat anybody in this league on any given night. You can see that in the results, and you can see that throughout the year. It's a different league, unlike any other league. But there's Kool and the Gang's 'Celebration' playing right now in the locker room and the guys are living it up, because you get nine points in a week, it's something to be proud about."

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