The two games against Nashville SC have been reference points for the New England Revolution.
The Revs opened the season in the Music City, losing 4-1 in a game where they were burdened by absences. The teams met again three months later, this time at Gillette Stadium.
While Wednesday's game finished as a 3-0 loss for the Revolution – ending a seven-game unbeaten run (6-0-1) – head coach Marko Mitrovic sees positives.
"When we played the [season opener], I felt like, [Nashville] are in that moment, really a level above us, maybe even two," Mitrovic said. "And it’s a long way to go for us today. In the first 30 minutes, I felt much more positive comparing with Nashville. Now, it’s how we can sustain that through the whole game and get to that level?”
The Revs had moments of good build-up play during the first stanza, but struggled to deliver the final product.
"We had some decent situations, especially in the first third of the game," Mitrovic explained. "Actually bringing the ball higher on the field, I felt we were patient. But then we rushed, in certain moments, to play those balls. There were three or four long switches we wanted to do, where I felt we could make another pass and get ourselves in an even better situation.
"The other thing is also, every next pass that we make would be more difficult for the opponent, because they have to run. And if you play the long game for 90 minutes, that would have impacted them. I felt we were a little bit impatient coming into the final third. That was actually my message at half time, ‘Can we just sustain a ball a little bit more and have more clarity in the final third?’"
The game changed in the 34th minute when Bryan Acosta converted a chance from Cristian Espinoza in a transition moment. The visitors took a 2-0 lead in the 41st minute as Warren Madrigal capitalized on a Matt Turner mistake.
"Those mistakes happen to everyone," Mitrovic said. "It's part of our game. I think Matt is mature enough. After that, he had some good passes in the game.
"If we want Matt to make certain passes, we also have to understand that there are moments where he's going to make some mistakes, and we have to be ready to live with that. There's nothing to say to Matt about that particular play."
The third goal came in the 74th minute through Acosta, giving Nashville full points to remain atop the Eastern Conference.
The final statistics show a tight game in terms of possession (52% for Revs, 48% for Nashville), shots on target (2 to 4), expected goals (.6 to .79), touches in the opposition's box (15 to 16), and big chances created (1 to 1).
They're also much different than the game in February when the Revolution were bested in possession (45% for Revs, 55% for Nashville), shots on target (1 to 8), expected goals (.93 to 2.77), touches in the opposition's box (12 to 29), and big chances created (2 to 6).
The Revs will now turn their attention to hosting Minnesota United on Saturday before a road trip to Charlotte FC. After that, they will be off for two months for the World Cup break.
"I see disappointment in the locker room, but sometimes that disappointment can go in two ways- how are you going to recover and how you’re going to take it? Or disappointment, because you know we are better than this," Mitrovic said.
The team could welcome back Luca Langoni, who missed Wednesday's outing with a minor lower-body injury. The Argentine has two goals and six assists on the season.
“Luca felt that injury during the last game against Philly," Mitrovic said. "He tried to practice yesterday; he felt very uncomfortable. It's a small muscle injury, but you can go from small to very big, and the best decision was for Luca not to play today. He wasn't capable of playing. Now, how long it's going to be? We'll see. It's day by day right now, and we'll do everything to recover Luca for Saturday."
