Sunday’s 6-1 win was a bit of an anomaly for the New England Revolution as Carles Gil’s name wasn’t on the scoresheet, despite the outpouring of goals.
This isn’t to say that the Designated Player wasn’t a factor, as he had a stinging shot in first-half stoppage time and forced another save in the 53rd minute that fell favorably for Alhassan Yusuf to finish. He was also part of the build-up to Yow's goal.
Rather, this is to point out that the Revolution found other ways to create goal-scoring opportunities, rather than relying primarily on Gil.
Luca Langoni connected with Brayan Ceballos on two corner kicks. Dor Turgeman nodded in Langoni's service, with Ilay Feingold earning a secondary assist.
Yusuf and Yow scored on rebounds – both created by Gil – while Diego Fagundez combined with Dor Turgeman to help Peyton Miller score his first of the season.
"We want to win on a long term, and it's not a one-man team," head coach Marko Mitrovic said. "Carles is an exceptional talent. I’ve spoken so many times about Carles.
"As a coaching staff, a club, the players, we all rely on what Carles is going to do on the field. And I don’t think that is going to be a winning formula. We just know that we are going to get Carles in spots where we want to get Carles, and because of his talent, he will find the vast solutions and he can handle those [tough] situations.
"But for us to go game-by-game with the mindset that Carles will win the games for us, I don’t think it works like that.”
Gil, the 2021 Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player, has been the Revs' central attacking player since his arrival in 2019. He has collected 49 goals and a club-record 88 assists in 196 appearances.
Last year, he had 24 goal contributions, equaling the MLS high that he set in 2019. This year, he is looking to join Preki as the only MLS players with 10 or more helpers in at least six straight seasons.
Gil, who had the assist on the first goal of the 2026 season, will continue to be a key player for the Revs. But it's also positive that others are helping to move the ball forward.
As Mitrovic said last week, "For us, every player contributes when we attack."
"It’s pretty important, I’d say, just to have that many players on the scoresheet," Brooklyn Raines said. "I think it says a lot. The subs came in, did their job, and the players that started did their job."
