New England Revolution 2 - FC Cincinnati 1: Three Thoughts
Three thoughts after the Revs extend their winning streak to four!
The New England Revolution returned to action on Saturday as the team looked to extend their winning streak to four games!Â
Things got off to a good start in the 21st minute when Carles Gil sent a pass from the left flank centrally atop the box to Giacomo Vrioni, who slotted it past his trailing defender and Roman Celentano to put the Revolution up 1-0.
Vrioni’s night got sweeter in the 41st minute when Ema Boateng received a pass on the left flank and lobbed a cross centrally. Vrioni easily got on the end of Boateng’s cross and headed home his second goal of the evening to put the Revs up 2-0 heading into halftime.
Things turned in Cincinnati’s favor in the 65th minute when a corner kick led to Yamil Asad finding the back of the net to cut the deficit in half.
But Tides turned again in the 69th minute when Obinna Nwobodo received his second yellow of the evening and was sent off, leaving Cincy down a man for the remaining 20 minutes.
Here are three thoughts.
1 - Capitalizing on mistakes
Cincinnati's play was simply sloppier than a bowl of Skyline Chili, and the Revolution made the most of the opportunities Cincy gave them. We saw it right out of the gate. A poor missed pass in the opening two minutes led the Revs to nearly generate a dangerous chance right out of the gate. There was also the moment when Gil easily dispossessed a stiff Acosta who struggled to decide on what to do next.
While the Revs generated six interceptions and won six tackles in the first half, I felt the Revs didn't capitalize on those golden opportunities. While it worked out in the end, I would have liked to have seen the goals come a little earlier, as Cincinnati greatly struggled throughout the first half.
2 - Vrioni’s valuable outing
Regardless of your thoughts on the DP forward, you have to admit the Albanian’s efforts against Cincinnati were top-notch.
His two goals were the deciding factor in the 2-1 win, but Vrioni had a solid outing as a whole as he ended the night completing seven of ten passes, got 31 touches on the ball, won one tackle, had four recoveries, and won ten duels.
Hopefully, we’ll continue to see performances like this from the DP striker!
3 - We’re SOOOOOO back
As the kids say, I really think the Revolution are back. Wins in four straight, TWO road goals from Giacomo Vrioni. Things are going smoothly as of late for Caleb Porter’s side.
Yes, some of their recent opponents, especially tonight’s Cincinnati side, haven’t been at their best, but when you have a start to the season like this Revs side had, stringing together a series of wins like they have has to boost the conference going forward.
For my and the Revolution’s sake, hopefully this doesn’t end up on CursedRevs.
I would argue the third bullet should be "it was closer than it needed to be as the Revs let up in the second half and, after going up a man, played as if they were the team with the disadvantage."
But regardless, they hung on and that's a good achievement against one of the best teams in the league (announcers kept adding the caveat that Cincy were missing key pieces with injuries but like, so are the Revs)
Loving the look of this team since the NYCFC game. Are we the first team to get a win at Cincinnati this year?