FOXBORO — A blistering hot start for the New England Revolution turned into a 2-1 win over Atlanta United FC Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium.
The win moves New England into second place in the MLS Eastern Conference with a record of 12-7-4 (40 points). Atlanta falls to 9-8-7 and remain in sixth place in the Eastern Conference (35 points).
From the jump, the Revolution played with intensity and speed, maintaining possession in the attacking third for much for the first half. New England scored twice in the first 10 minutes to put pressure on Atlanta in the first 45 minutes.
The first goal for New England came off a cross into the box, which was headed out by Atlanta’s Brooks Lennon, but the ball caromed directly to midfielder Matt Polster, who fired a low shot that went through traffic and past Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan for the first goal in the fourth minute.
The Revs weren’t finished inside the 10-minute mark as Carles Gil’s through ball past three defenders to a sprinting Giacomo Vrioni led to Vrioni past the back line before reaching the box. A move to his right left Guzan stranded, and with just one defender back to try and deflect the ball away Vrioni tapped it in from three feet away to make it a 2-0 game in the ninth minute.
The goal for Vrioni was his fifth of the season.
“(Vrioni) did a real good job tonight. Certainly one his strengths is running behind the back line and the timing with Carles is very good,” New England head coach Bruce Arena said.
Atlanta broke through late in extra time (three minutes added) in the second half with a goal from close range by Machop Chol off a rebound, but the whistle sounded not long after.
Atlanta peppered the goal through the second half, putting shots on goal with a high volume. New England keeper Djorde Petrovic saw 24 Atlanta shots, 11 of which were on net. Arena said Atlanta played well in its second half, noting the substitutions of Jack Panayotou and Emmanuel Boateng for Ian Harkes and Justin Rennicks being a turning point for New England’s quality play at the 65th minute. The Revs had 16 shots, six on target.
“They played well, a very good second half. I think when we made changes at the 65th minute we played very poorly from there on,” Arena said. “Atlanta showed a lot of quality, a lot of character being down two goals and trying to get something out of this game.”
Arena praised his all-star keeper for his effort in the win. Petrovic becomes the fourth MLS keeper to reach double-digits in wins this year.
“Djorde kept us in the game in the second half,” Arena said. “He was very good. I can’t even think about how many shots (Atlanta’s Thiago Almada) had. Our mission tonight was to get three points, and we got it. We’re hanging in there, ... we’ve got to get through this game on Saturday and get reorganized. ... (D.C. United) is certainly going to have a bit of an edge in terms of being a little fitter for the game.”
The Revs next play Saturday night, hosting D.C United (8-6-9) at 7:30 p.m. from Gillette Stadium.
Tyler Hetu can be reached at 508-236-0375 or on Twitter @thetylerhetu.
