Revolution See Progress Despite 1-4-1 Start

Porter: "We have to go back to work and understand that we are on the right track, understand that we are improving.”

Photo Courtesy of the New England Revolution

Caleb Porter and Alhassan Yusuf see progress with the New England Revolution despite being 1-4-1 to start the season.

On Saturday, the Revs lost 1-0 to FC Cincinnati after Sergio Santos pounced on a rebound to score his first goal of the season. The strike came after the Revs hit the post twice.

“We had moments where I felt like we deserved a goal,” Porter said. “We hit the post twice. We came on the road against a good team and had 10 corners, I think it was, and 15 shots.

“We are playing well, we are playing better, we are creating more. This wasn’t a game where we didn’t create chances; we did. I do still think when we got in the box, at times, we could have gone one-on-one and we could have pulled the trigger a little bit quicker.”

Every game the Revs have played this year has been close, with the loss against the Philadelphia Union being the only one decided by more than one goal, both of which came late. The Revolution have only conceded two first-half goals, each coming after the Revs scored first.

The club’s first win of 2025 occurred last weekend when they defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-1 at home. In that game, the Revs collected their highest expected goals (xG), shots on target, and big chances of the year.

Against Cincinnati, the Revs had their second-best performance in terms of xG and best regarding shots. Of course, they’ve only produced more than one expected goal in the Red Bulls game.

“I think prior to the last game, we were not creating enough,” Porter said. “I think in this game, we created enough to score at least one goal and to at least get a point in the game. So, we are playing better. I think this game and last game are different than the games prior to that in terms of our chance creation and in terms of how we played.”

Yusuf agreed with Porter, noting, “I think for the attacking part, we are more in the box so many [more] times we were creating chances. Of course, for me like [Porter] said, a draw would be a fair result for us.”

Yusuf said that Saturday’s game felt “50-50,” adding, “I think it’s a good thing that we’re coming here and playing good football.”

That said, the Revs only have four points through five games, which puts them near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

“I think we are making progress, but of course without the result then we have nothing to show,” Yusuf said. “I think overall, we’re improving as a team.”

The Revs will get a boost soon, as Porter anticipates that Tomas Chancalay will be available for minutes next weekend. It’s more likely that Leo Campana will be back the following week.

The Revolution will now return to the training ground to prepare for Saturday’s road game against Atlanta FC.

“We are playing better, we are creating more,” Porter said. “I know, obviously, when it stacks up and the bottom line shakes out, it is our fourth loss and another game we don’t score.

“But if you look at the last game, we played much better, we created a lot more, and we won the game. Then you look at this game as well, we had 15 shots on the road and 10 corners and hit two posts. Much different than the games prior to those, so we are on the right track. That is what I told [the players].

“We have to keep going and in the end we can not get down. We have to go back to work and understand that we are on the right track, understand that we are improving.”