Revolution dismantle D.C. United 4-0 to extend home unbeaten streak to 12 games

FOXBOROUGH, MA– The New England Revolution (12-7-4, 43 pts.) were victorious in a 4-0 match versus D.C. United (8-6-10, 30 pts.) on Wednesday night.

The match kicked off at 7:30 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts to a crowd of 29,884.

Here's how we lineup against D.C.

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) July 15, 2023

The team started their lineup in a 4-4-2 formation with Đorđe Petrović starting in net with a backline of (left back) Ryan Spaulding, (center backs) Dave Romney, and Andrew Farrell, along with (right back) Brandon Bye. The central defensive midfield spot was manned by Matt Polster. Ian Harkes (left midfield) and Emmanuel Boateng (right midfield), and Carles Gil (central attacking midfield) rounded off the middle of the pitch. The forward roles were manned by Bobby Wood (Left) and Gustavo Bou (Right).

Midfielder Noel Buck returns to the 18-man-roster after missing 7/8 past games due to a lingering leg injury.

Defender DeJuan Jones remained out of the lineup as he returned from international duty with the United States Men’s National Team on Thursday.

The match began with D.C. United starting from the midfield kickoff. #22 Yamil Asad played the ball backwards to goalkeeper Tyler Miller, who then sent the ball directly up the center of the field for a contested header won by Revolution defender Dave Romney.

Following an inadvertent elbow by Bobby Wood, the match entered a 5-minute stoppage after D.C. United captain #15 Steven Birnbaum went down clutching his face and bleeding. He ended up being replaced due to the injury and is currently in concussion protocol. Each team would gain an extra substitution due to this injury.

New England’s first chance of the match came in the 23rd minute when Emmanuel Boateng’s left footed service looking for Bobby Wood was stopped by a diving #4 Brendan Hines-Ike and cleared away for a corner kick.

D.C. United’s first chance of the match came in the 30th minute after a shot by #17 Lewis O’Brien was comfortably saved by Revolution goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović.

In the 33rd minute, Revolution forward Bobby Wood was issued a yellow card after contesting a foul that was called on him for fouling #4 Brendan Hines-Ike.

Just before the 45th minute, New England took the 1-0 advantage.

La Pantera is always on the prowl pic.twitter.com/9laKWxJdHw

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) July 16, 2023

Forward Gustavo Bou received the ball and played it to the right side of the field and found Carles Gil. He then played a lofted ball into the area to find Bou unmarked to head it past D.C. United goalkeeper #1 Tyler Miller for his 5th goal of the season. With the goal, Bou moved into T-5th all-time in New England Revolution goalscoring.

With just one minute remaining in the half, The Revolution added to their lead once again!

Made his debut on Wednesday
First goal as a Revolution player on Saturday @ian_harkes is having a heck of a first week in New England! pic.twitter.com/QEuUiO6xJr

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) July 16, 2023

After an interception in midfield following a terrible pass by goalkeeper #1 Tyler Miller, forward Bobby Wood collected the ball and played midfielder Ian Harkes through. Harkes chose to one-time shoot the ball with his right foot and managed to chip goalkeeper Tyler Miller. This is Harkes first career goal for the Revolution.

Just moments after Harkes’ goal, the match entered halftime with New England ahead 2-0.

2 at the half!#NERevs | @SantanderBankUS pic.twitter.com/LVnX4V4ZhS

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) July 16, 2023

The second half began with Gustavo Bou starting from the center circle. He played the ball directly back to defender Dave Romney, who sent the ball up the right side of the field.

Just 4 minutes into the second half, Ian Harkes added to his tally once again, and extended New England’s lead.

So nice, he did it twice! pic.twitter.com/9oyqnefzj8

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) July 16, 2023

Just moments after collecting the ball from defender Dave Romney, forward Gustavo Bou drove toward the Revolution penalty area and found Emmanuel Boateng. He then played the ball to Carles Gil who swiftly moved it to Ian Harkes. Harkes, who elected to do a give-and-go with Gil, re-collected the ball and his right-footed lofted volley shot struck the crossbar and went into the net for his second goal of the match.

Just 3 minutes later, New England continued their attack after defender Ryan Spaulding cut inside the D.C. United penalty area. His right-footed shot went just wide of the right post.

In the 61st minute, D.C. United midfielder #43 Mateusz Klich was issued a yellow card after fouling Ryan Spaulding.

In the 64th minute, Revolution head coach Bruce Arena used his first substitutions of the match by replacing midfielder Matt Polster and replacing him with midfielder Joshua Bolma. This is Bolma’s MLS debut.

One minute after the substitution, Gustavo Bou unleashed a right-footed shot that needed a key save from #1 Tyler Miller, which led to a corner kick.

D.C. United’s best chance of the second half came in the 69th minute when #3 Derrick Willams played the ball wide to find #12 Cristian Dájome. His delivery into the penalty area found the head of #20 Christian Benteke, whose header struck the right post, and went out for a Revolution goal kick.

In the 70th minute, Revolution head coach Bruce Arena used his second substitution of the match by replacing midfielder Emmanuel Boateng and replacing him with forward Justin Rennicks.

In the 73rd minute, New England piled on their 4th goal of the match.

4-0 to an….OWN GOAL pic.twitter.com/1s2j4PYBsR

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) July 16, 2023

After a long through ball by Brandon Bye to Justin Rennicks, he looked to deliver a cross into the penalty area which was met by a slide tackle by D.C. United defender #4 Brandon Hines-Ike and into his own net past #1 Tyler Miller.

Just 8 minutes later, New England almost scored another when midfielder Carles Gil’s left-footed shot struck the crossbar.

Moments later, Revolution goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović made 3 headline saves to deny #19 Nigel Robertha, #12 Cristian Dájome, and then #20 Christian Benteke.

In the 87th minute, Revolution head coach Bruce Arena used his third, fourth, and fifth substitutions of the match by replacing defender Ryan Spaulding and forwards Gustavo Bou and Bobby Wood and replacing them with defender Ben Sweat, and forwards Esmir Bajraktarević and Damian Rivera.

Entering the 88th minute, New England thought they had their 5th after Esmir Bajraktarević’s right footed shot struck the post. The rebound was then cleared by defender #2 Ruan.

In the 90+1st minute, D.C. United midfielder #43 Mateusz Klich was issued his second yellow card after fouling Esmir Bajraktarević. D.C. United would play the remainder of the match with 10 men.

In the 90+2nd minute, Revolution head coach Bruce Arena used his sixth and final substitution by replacing midfielder Ian Harkes with midfielder Jack Panayotou. This substitution was made possible due to the concussion substitution that was done in the 15th minute.

After the 90+4 minutes, the match ended with New England comfortably holding on for the 4-0 victory.

There's no place like home!!!#NERevs | @SantanderBankUS pic.twitter.com/XjlohmsGsm

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) July 16, 2023

The victory is New England’s 12th of the season, and coincidentally, extends their 12-game home unbeaten streak (9-0-3 at home). They remain as one of the only undefeated teams at home this season. (FC Cincinatti is 11-0-1 at home – draw was against New England.

In regard to historic marks, Head Coach Bruce Arena coached his 600th career match.

Along with this, Revolution midfielder Carles Gil (122 games played) became the 3rd fastest player in MLS history to record 60 assists. Only Carlos Valderrama (82 games) and Marco Etcheverry (85 games) were quicker.

The New England Revolution (12-7-4, 43 pts.) head out to Harrison, NJ to face the New York Red Bulls (6-8-9, 26 pts.) in a Leagues Cup Match on Wednesday, July 2nd. The match kicks off in Red Bull Arena at 7:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.

(Editor’s Note: For more of Adrian Heinsohn-Roe’s photos, click on the link)