New England Revolution
The Revolution overcame last weekend's loss to Columbus with a choppy 2-1 win over Atlanta United on Wednesday night.
Two goals from centre-forward Giacomo Vrioni were enough to defeat the visitors, who even forced a number of tense moments in stoppage time with a last-minute goal from Daniel Rios before New England could officially claim victory.
Caleb Porter's team has now won five of its last six games and, after spending several months in last place within the Eastern Conference, is now just two points off the play-off line (currently held by Atlanta).
Here are some insights:
The first half featured moments of brilliance and overall dominance.
The Revolution entered the night without team captain Carles Gil, who missed his second straight game with what the team called a “lower leg injury.” Porter said afterward he hoped to have Gil back next week, but it surely was questionable whether he would play within the team's next game on Saturday in Seattle.
New England was capable of get one in every of its many injured players back in the shape of winger Dylan Borrero. The talented 22-year-old Colombian was the player with essentially the most touches of the ball in the primary 45 minutes and supported the Revolution's build-up play in midfield in addition to explosive attacks down the left wing.
Like New England, Atlanta was missing its star player. Thiago Almada, who’s reportedly in talks to depart the club (and possibly join Botafogo in Brazil), didn’t play for Atlanta. In fact, neither of the 2 players who scored in Atlanta's 4-1 win within the teams' previous meeting in March were available on Saturday (as striker Giorgos Giakoumakis, who scored a hat trick in the sooner match, has since left Atlanta for Liga MX side Cruz Azul).
Although United were capable of create a number of probabilities through full-backs Caleb Wiley and Brooks Lennon, the higher scoring opportunities got here from New England (Vrioni converted to provide his team a 2-0 lead at halftime).
With a mixture of pressing in defense and quick combination passes in midfield, the Revolution were the protagonists of the primary 45 minutes. New England made 33 percent more passes in Atlanta's half (117) than in their very own (78), indicating that they played way more offensively in the primary half.
Giacomo Vrioni once more showed incredible talent. Consistency stays difficult to attain.
Vrioni, the 25-year-old New England forward, was the team's only Designated Player on the sector Wednesday (with each Gil and Tomas Chancalay out).
And on an evening when the Revolution needed Vrioni to step up, he did greater than that. His first goal, which began with a vertical pass from DeJuan Jones, got here from a formidable dribbling sequence through which he outplayed two Atlanta defenders before coolly firing past former U.S. international Brad Guzan on the near post.
The second goal spoke more to New England's collective quality in the primary half. After a lengthy sequence in Atlanta's half of the sector, the Revolution picked up a loose ball in midfield and made several passes. After passing the ball from one side of the sector to the opposite (after which back again), Noel Buck fired an ideal cross from the correct side to the back post where Vrioni snuck in. The Italian-Albanian finished smartly for his second goal of the night, and the Revolution fans cheered.
While it will be easy to easily praise Vrioni for 2 goals in a win, the actual fact stays that he missed several other good opportunities in front of goal. And after a wasteful night in Saturday's loss to Columbus, consistency stays the large picture for Vrioni.
If he can consistently play like he did in the primary half on Wednesday, New England as a team has a great probability of being a playoff contender. Otherwise, they are going to struggle to make the playoffs.
The second half showed once more that we still have lots of work ahead of us.
Just because the recent winning streak was a continuing reminder of the talent and potential of the New England team, the second-half performances of several of those games were timely reminders that the team is much from perfect.
While the Revolution players' confidence in Porter's system (especially in midfield) appears to be growing week by week, the drop in performance within the second half is cause for concern.
For seemingly no other reason than possibly fatigue, New England abandoned its previously successful defensive strategy (pressing) and as a substitute played deeper, which increasingly invited Atlanta to maneuver forward.
The visitors had 62 percent possession within the last 45 minutes and, amongst other things, earned a 7-0 lead in corners. In the top, a timely defense and a few good saves from Revolution goalkeeper Alijaz Ivacic were enough to secure one other victory by a goal.
If Porter's team can proceed to develop, they are going to need to search out higher answers within the second half to proceed to regulate games. Part of that problem will likely be solved just by getting Gil back within the lineup, however the team's collective mentality to maintain the pressure on clearly still has room for improvement.
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