Foxborough, MASS– The start to this MLS season for the Revolution is becoming more and more unrecognisable. Minnesota United were the visitors at Gillette Stadium and despite taking the lead, they left empty-handed. Dylan Borrero and Gustavo Bou, a pair whose relationship is blossoming right in front of our eyes, found the back of the net to make the difference.
Goals From Dylan Borrero and Gustavo Bou Secure the Three Points
A Farewell for Matt Turner
Djordje Petrovic was the man with the gloves but the original headlines were surrounding Matt Turner. This was his final goodbye to the Revolution faithful and he paraded around the field before taking his place on the bench for the match.
There were three changes made to the starting XI and Bruce Arena was forced into all three of them. Matt Polster suffered a head injury against Orlando and along with him, both Brandon Bye and Sebastian Lletget missed out altogether. In their places, Jozy Altidore started up top, Tommy McNamara came into midfield and AJ DeLaGarza. An experienced trio indeed. With Altidore back amongst it, Bruce cited that “he’s made a lot of progress over the last month.”
Tonight's Starting XI ⚽️🙌 pic.twitter.com/McqhG5fLAB
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) June 19, 2022
Minnesota on the other hand, have had a few weeks off. That being said, Adrian Heath also made three changes to his last side, the one that last 1-0 to NYCFC. Brent Kallman, Joseph Rosales and Bongokuhle Hlongwane all dropped to the bench with the latter two entering the fray late on.
Number 9 Luis Amarilla returned up front in and around the likes of Robin Lod and Franco Fragapane. Kevin Arriaga replaced Rosales in partnering Wil Trapp at the base of midfield and experienced New Zealander Michael Boxall was restored at the heart of defence.
Dylan Borrero Continues to Impress in New England
Dylan Borrero has adjusted to life in New England rather quickly and is becoming a regular under Arena. Here is the manager’s take on the young Colombian: “he’s still getting acclimated to the league… he’s getting a little better every game. Today, he was more responsible on both sides of the ball, played a pretty solid 85 minutes”.
The winger is certainly getting better week-in-week-out and he got his first Revs goal in this one. Dylan Borrero didn’t find the back of the net until after Emmanuel Reynoso had given the guests a lead. Andrew Farrell took down the Loons’ talisman in the box and he picked himself up and sent Petrovic the wrong way. This was the Argentine’s third goal of the season with only Lod on more.
We'll take it! Dylan gets his first #NERevs goal 👏 pic.twitter.com/6oyH1NS2Q2
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) June 19, 2022
Minnesota went in ahead and so the Revs had it all to do after the break. These are the words of coach Arena on half-time motivations, “you’ve got to get your head right and get in and compete a little better, and we did that in the second half.” It then wasn’t the prettiest of equalizers from Dylan Borrero but it snuck past the goalkeeper either way.
Borrero scored from outside of the box and it was the same for Bou on the go-ahead goal. He took the free-kick instead of Carles Gil and the rest was history. Since the absence of Adam Buksa, the Argentine has been firing on all cylinders, scoring in three of the four games. Arena was certainly impressed, and discussed the importance of players that can produce magic; “those guys make a difference in tight games, so give Gustavo [Bou] a lot of credit.”
Final Thoughts on New England 2-1 Minnesota
Minnesota are a perfectly competent side so no matter what is made of the performance, the Revs continue to get good results. Dylan Borrero scoring his first goal is an obvious bonus for both the player and the team too, he has big shoes to fill in the form of Tajon Buchanan but is on the right track.
Some have been surprised by the significance of the role played by Tommy McNamara but he has done so to a consistent level. The bounce-back ability of this performance was particularly noteworthy, something which McNamara picked up on: “There’s a really strong togetherness, you look at today we went down 1-0, didn’t have a great first half, but you see us all pull together in the second half and fight for one another and we’re able to hang in there and get the three points.”
It has been a very successful week for the Revs, accumulating seven points out of a possible nine. The likes of Dylan Borrero, Gustavo Bou and Carles Gil have a relationship that is developing nicely and was on show against the Loons.
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