It’s no secret that the Revolution need to right the ship now, and three big points against Inter Miami is a great way to start it off. New England came into the game at 2-5-1, worth just seven points, putting them in last place in the Eastern Conference. The 2-0 win propels them back into ninth place. One victory makes all the difference in the packed and parity-filled conference. New England were the better team throughout the night, and were able to get their revenge on Miami.
Before some fans made it to their seats, Damian Rivera opened the scoring during his very first MLS start. The 19-year-old Revs homegrown had made a couple of substitute appearances in which he was fairly quiet, but made a much bigger impact in this one. Carles Gil picked up another assist, finding the cutting Rivera. He used his confident dribble to stride into the box and use his weaker left foot, which did not look so weak, to slam it into the back of Marsman’s net just 55 seconds in.
Per usual, there was a bit of a lull in the match, where the Revolution seem to be caught making too many negative passes. Moving the ball backwards has impacted their ability to find and spring counter attack chances. Nevertheless, they handled the first half pretty well, taking the lone goal with them to the break.
Inter Miami became increasingly frustrated in the second half, and Damion Lowe received his second red card against the Revs this season. Almost immediately, DeJuan Jones took a layoff from Rivera, and crossed it into the box towards Adam Buksa. Buksa hit one of his signature headers into the top corner, doubling the advantage for the hosts. Jairo Quinteros would also receive a red card for Miami in the 76th minute to force them down to nine men. The Revolution took the air out of the game at that point and milked the clock to full time.
Another player making his season debut was Matt Turner, who had been injured up to this point. He will be with the Revolution for a few more weeks, before transferring to Arsenal at the commencement of summer. Djordje Petrovic, likely the future keeper, made his first bench appearance as well. New singing Dylan Borrero was watching on from Brazil, he has yet to get his visa to the United States. They would like to bring Borrero in within the next week if possible, and could debut in May.
New England made a massive step forward in this win against Miami. It’s important to note that Inter were far from full strength, and the Revolution performance was not consistent throughout the full 90. That being said, all that matters is the three points they gained in the table, and it’s onto next week. They will host Columbus in one week’s time, then host the other Ohio team, in FC Cincinnati, in their first US Open Cup game of the season the following Wednesday.