Revolution Focusing On Process After "Tight" Loss to Crew

Porter: “We're not going to hang our heads. We focus back on the process, and we're back at home against Philadelphia, and we're going to keep working, keep improving."

Photo Courtesy of the New England Revolution

The New England Revolution lost 1-0 to the Columbus Crew on Saturday night in a tightly contested game.

While Columbus had 68% of the possession at halftime, the Revs had the only shot on target. That moment came after Jackson Yueill sneakily found Leo Campana on a free kick in the 23rd minute. The shot was saved and the game was scoreless at the break.

“I really liked our first half,” head coach Caleb Porter said. “I thought we had some moments to score, as well. When you're in a tight game like this, the margins are going to be [slim]. It’s a 1-0 game either way.

“Leo had a good chance in the first half, where we slipped him in on a dead ball. Luca [Langoni], I felt he was in behind, if he gets the cross right, that's a chance. I was really pleased with the first half.”

The deadlock was broken in the 51st minute when Jacen Russell-Rowe finished a feed from Mohamed Farsi.

When the final whistle blew, the Crew had nine shots (three on target) to the Revolution’s four shots (two on target). Columbus had an xG of .37 to New England’s .23.

“Second half, obviously disappointed to give away the goal on a throw-in,” Porter said. “I didn't really feel like Columbus threatened us much through the run of play. They had a bit of the ball, but really, again, never really got going. They didn't create a ton of chances.”

Columbus, who won the MLS Cup in 2023 and Leagues Cup in 2024, scored four goals against Chicago in the opening weekend. The Crew scored the second-most goals in 2024.

With this in mind, Porter expected a cagey affair.

“It was tight, not a lot of chances either way,” Porter said. “But you kind of have to play the game that way against Columbus to have a chance, because they're just so good in the attack.”

The Revs did have a penalty shout in the 88th minute when it looked like Dylan Chambost committed a handling offense. Referee Filip Dujic initially pointed to the spot but decided to rescind the call after going to the monitor.

In a statement answering the pool reporter’s question, the referee said, “On advice from the refereeing crew the penalty kick was awarded for what seemed in realtime to be a handling offence. After review it was determined that the ball did not touch #7 Columbus's hand, but rather his chest/body.”

Porter didn’t say much about the call, noting, “I haven't seen it yet. I thought we would get the penalty and we'd get a 1-1 draw. But I haven't seen it, so I won't comment any more on it.”

The Revs have recently struggled against the Crew, with their last victory coming on May 16, 2021. Last year, they lost by a combined score of 9-1 in two late-season games.

“I think the biggest thing is we played Columbus last year in our second-to-last game of the year, and we lost 4-0, and it could have been probably five, six or seven,” Porter said. “I think when you look at how much more competitive we were today, how much more organized we were today, how much better our mentality was today, it's not even close.

“So yeah, we leave disappointed because we didn't win the game, but we have to keep a perspective that we've been together not even six weeks, because we haven't had the whole group six weeks, and we have prioritized the defending.”

The Revs topped the Crew in tackles won (15 to 7), interceptions (10 to 5), duels won (54 to 40), ground duels won (46 to 37), and aerial duels won (8 to 3).

Offensively, the Revolution and Nashville are the only two Eastern Conference teams without a goal through two games.

“It looks like we didn't create a ton of chances, but neither did [Columbus],” Porter said. “Sometimes in a football game, soccer game, you have to make the game tight, and you have to find the margin to win it, and we weren't able to do that today.”

The Revs will return to the training grounds to prepare for next weekend’s home game against the Philadelphia Union. The Union have two wins, defeating Orlando City 4-2 and FC Cincinnati 4-1.

“We're not going to hang our heads. We focus back on the process, and we're back at home against Philadelphia, and we're going to keep working, keep improving.

“A part of that improvement, yeah, will be the attack. But I think there's a lot of positives with our defending right now, especially. If you have a really good defensive team, you're always going to be competitive in every game, which we will.”