FOXBORO – The New England Revolution have been resolute in their collective commitment to defend the house.
The Revolution improved to 5-1-1 and 3-0-1 at home with a 4-0 drubbing of struggling CF Montreal (1-5-0) on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
Revolution second-year keeper Djordje Petrovic registered his fourth cleansheet of the season and third at Gillette. The Revs will look to secure their third road win of the season at the Columbus Crew on April 15 at Lower.Com Field.
“I think we worked very well collectively tonight,” said Revolution head coach Bruce Arena. “On the night we did very well, limited their chances and whenever we had to defend set pieces, we did a good job. It was an outstanding effort.”
Arena made three changes to the starting XI that battled New York City FC to a 1-1 draw at Gillette on April 1. Attacking midfielder Latif Blessing was back on the pitch after missing the last two matches with a leg injury. Matt Polster provided a defensive element to the midfield while Arena placed Dylan Borrero up top in his 4-4-2 scheme.
“You saw with Latif back with the team his quickness and the plays he makes probably get unnoticed by a lot of people,” said Arena. “He makes a lot of little plays that make a big difference in the game.”
The Revolution went up 1-0 from a corner kick in the 21st minute. Carles Gil made a safe back pass to Gustavo Bou, who fainted toward goal before crossing the ball to Borrero, who was situated at the top of the box.
Borrero made a lateral move to the center and unloaded a line drive off his right foot that sailed high inside the far post for his second of the season. Gil was credited with an assist, moving him past Lee Nguyen for second place in the club record book with 51 helpers.
“It was an excellent goal and I think in a lot of ways that was his (Borrero) best game of the year,” said Arena. “We have to get him to be a bit more steady and tonight was a good step forward for him.”
The Revolution caught a break in stoppage time when CFM defender Gabriele Corbo used his hand to deflect Bobby Wood’s shot in the penalty area. Gil lined up the penalty kick and fired a high shot off his left foot that sailed under the crossbar for his second of the season. Gil has 11 goals and 22 assists in 50 MLS games at home.
“He (Gil) has a lot of composure and those are not as easy as they look,” said Arena. “Carles is very unpredictable in the ways he takes his penalties. He goes left, right or down the middle and he’s simply outstanding at it.”
The Revolution went up 3-0 in the 50th minute on slick individual effort by Wood in the penalty area. Wood ran down a long pass, undressed Montreal defender Kamal Miller with a lateral move to the middle and fired the ball against the grain for his second of the season. Substitute attacker Giacomo Vrioni scored his first of the season in the 87th minute.