Foxborough, Pennsylvania On Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, the New England Revolution (0-4-0; 0 points) lost 2-1 against FC Cincinnati (2-0-2; 8 points). Giacomo Vrioni scored New England’s lone goal in the 62nd minute, his second goal in the previous two games and his first of the regular season of 2024, after Cincinnati had taken the lead with two goals in the first ten minutes of the second half.
After the two Eastern Conference teams dueled to a stalemate through 45 minutes, the introduction of the reigning MLS MVP Luciano Acosta provided a spark to the visitors after halftime. Acosta set up Cincinnati’s opening goal in the 52nd minute, looping the ball across the face of goal to Yuya Kubo, who headed the ball across the line to give the visitors the lead. Acosta doubled the advantage two minutes later, driving a low free kick underneath the Revolution wall and past a diving Henrich Ravas.
With a barrage of late opportunities, the Revolution pushed their way back into the game and finished with a 17–13 advantage in shot attempts. In the 62nd minute, Vrioni made a single effort to cut the lead in half. He gained possession, drove towards goal, and then used his left foot to create a shot that he placed into the bottom-left corner. With his equaliser on Thursday night in Concacaf Champions Cup action at LD Alajuelense, Vrioni now has two goals this season across all competitions. In all competitions, the Albanian international has already netted 12 goals and provided four assists for New England.
Forward Tomás Chancalay remained a key figure in New England’s attack, hitting the woodwork twice on the afternoon. In the 33rd minute, Chancalay had a shot denied by the post from a narrow angle. In the 80thminute, Chancalay slipped in behind the Cincinnati backline, popping his chip shot over Roman Celentano and off the top of the crossbar. Revolution captain Carles Gil returned to the lineup to play 90 minutes in the match.
Revolution goalkeeper Henrich Ravas and midfielder Esmir Bajraktarević continued to appear in every match for the club this season, both earning a spot in the starting lineup on Sunday. Ravas, Bajraktarević, and Noel Buck will all depart the club this week to join their respective national teams. Ravas will represent Slovakia, while Bajraktarević will join the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team and Buck will head to the England Under-19 National Team.
New England continues its MLS regular season schedule this Saturday, March 23, hosting Chicago Fire FC. The 2:00 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium is available to watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish.
