Revolution begin MLS play Saturday at D.C. United; open season with Champions Cup victory

After defeating Panama’s CA Independiente on Wednesday night in the first leg of Round One of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup, the New England Revolution has very little time to prepare for the first game of the regular MLS season, as they must fly back home and then travel to Washington D.C. to face D.C. United on Saturday. Kickoff at Audi Field will be at 7:30 pm.

“As far as the turnaround, yeah, it’s a quick turnaround,” pointed out the New England Revolution Coach Caleb Porter. “The teams that are in the Champions Cup all have a similar turnaround with a couple days of recovery. We’ll file this game away immediately. It’s no time to celebrate. We’ll compartmentalize this tournament; we’ll file the game away.”

Porter said the team will have a light training on Friday.

“The mindset is to try to get our first win on the road,” he said. “We know it won’t be easy. D.C. didn’t have a midweek game, so they’ll be fresher than us. But I like our group’s mentality. I think we’re fit now, and I think we have guys can keep playing. For sure, we’ll look at some rotation and where guys are at physically. But we’re looking forward to that league game.”

Actually, D.C. United is going through a difficult stage. The team has a new coach, a new GM, even a new home uniform, and is also facing a bit of a revolt from the club’s supporters’ groups. All because of the club’s preseason visit to Saudi Arabia.

According to various media outlets, five fan groups – Buzzard Point Social, District Ultras, 202 Unique, Rose Room Collective and La Banda Del Distrito – will hold protests during the team’s first home matches in order to express their displeasure with DC United’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia.

“D.C. United Supporter Groups will not be providing organized support for the first four matches in protest of the club’s preseason partnership with the Saudi Government,” the groups said in a statement. “This includes no drums, flags, or banners. The club’s stated values of being ‘Relentless, Deliberate and Decisive’ must also include a deliberate respect for human rights.”

The trip to Saudi Arabia lasted for 17 days and included four friendlies – two against Saudi outfits and two against Sudanese clubs.

The fans apparently are upset because of media reports that suggest that this was the first step in setting up some sort of a partnership between DC United and Saudi Arabia. Part of the agreement allegedly calls for Saudi clubs to play exhibition matches in DC at future dates and for the MLS team to return to Saudi Arabia in the future.

Interestingly enough, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami also spent part of their pre-season in Saudi Arabia, as they played in the inaugural “Riyadh Season Cup,” losing 4-3 to Al Hilal and getting crushed, 6-0, by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr. The Portuguese captain missed the game due to injury.

There was no negative fall out for Inter or Messi, no surprise since MLS has invested very heavily in Messi’s stay in the league.

New England Revolution open season with Champions Cup victory in Panama

Tomás Chancalay’s goal in the 54th minute carried the New England Revolution to a 1-0 victory over Panama’s CA Independiente, on Wednesday night, in the first leg of Round One of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup, played at Estadio Universitario F.C.

This was the first game of the year for the Revolution, who were coming off a winless pre-season. But new coach Caleb Porter had warned that pre-season results are meaningless.

“This is my 10th year going through pre-season, so I learned early on that results in pre-season mean nothing,” Porter responded when he met with the media on Monday. “I’ve had years where we won every pre-season game, and we started the season poor and then I’ve had many years the opposite. It’s impossible to put much value in any results, in pre-season, especially in the early stages because you’re playing essentially 22 guys. So, what’s the result? There are no subs, so you could win a half, you could lose a half. In the end, the bottom line is the result doesn’t matter. And ultimately, it’s about what you're working on in training.”

Apparently, from what we saw in this game, the lack of results in the preseason will not be a problem for the Revolution.

The hosts got off to the better start, playing a more direct style, but the Revolution were well organized defensively and gradually grew as the game progressed.

And the first real threat came from the Revolution when, in the ninth minute, Giacomo Vrioni’s header struck the crossbar.

CA Independiente also showed their physicality a bit and in the 12th minute Luis Robles was shown the yellow card for a hard tackle.

The Revolution should have taken the lead in the 20th minute, on a well-designed counterattack. Carles Gil made a run and, as he approached the area, the Revolution captain perfectly timed a thru pass that sent his brother, Nacho, in clean on keeper Eddie Roberts. But Nacho was unable to cleanly control the pass, allowed the ball to bounce to his right and misfired, sending the shot wide of the near post.

With the defense clicking and successfully thwarting the hosts’ attacking efforts, at this point the Revolution were able to control the game.

In the 36th minute they created another dangerous situation, again off an excellent pass from Carles Gil, who connected with Giacomo Vrioni, this time by lifting the ball over the Panamanian defenders. But the Revolution striker also failed to control the pass and his shot lacked power and missed the target.

One minute later, Tomás Chancalay stripped an opponent inside CA Independiente's defensive zone, near the touchline, cut inside to weave his way around two defenders and then got off a hard shot. But, because he was a bit off balance, the ball sailed past the far post.

CA Independiente should have been forced to play a man down in the 40th minute. Nacho Gil faked his way past Luís Robles, but, when he cut towards the area, the Panamanian defender slid and knocked the Revolution player down from behind. The replays left no doubt, the CA defender should have received his second yellow and been sent to an early shower. But referee Walter Lopez of Guatemala merely gave him verbal warning and allowed him to remain in the game.

The last threat came in the 43rd minute. Carles Gil took a corner kick from the right side and Mark-Anthony Kaye cut in front of his marker and got off a well-placed header that beat keeper Eddie Roberts, but the ball sailed just wide of the far post.

The halftime statistics confirmed that the Revolution had controlled the game, registering more than twice as many passes, 260 to just 114 for the home side.

Revolution looked strong in the second half

The Revolution expected CA Independiente to come out with renewed vigor for the second half. And coach Franklin Narvaez took no chances as he replaced Robles for the second half, bringing in Javier De La Espada.

But De La Espada needed just two minutes to get a caution, after a hard tackle on Revolution defender Nick Lima.

And three minutes later Jefferson Murillo also saw a yellow card because, in the short span of a minute, he nailed Nacho Gil twice.

Despite that, the Revolution remained focused and continued to control the game and create dangerous situations.

The well-deserved goal finally came, in the 53rd minute. Carles Gil lifted the a cross to Giacomo Vrioni, who headed it down, towards Tomás Chancalay, and he fired a first-time shot that bounced off the ground and then spun over the head of goalkeeper Eddie Roberts.

Carles Gil came close to increasing the lead five minutes later, on an excellent individual effort. The captain made a run down the right side, weaved his way through a couple of defenders, cut to the area and curled a shot away from the keeper, but the ball sailed just wide of the far post.

In the closing minutes the two coaches exhausted their substitutions, but the flow of the game was unchanged, with the Revolution looking more comfortable, dominating, controlling the game and creating scoring opportunities.

Just prior to the final whistle, Carles Gil came very close to the goal that he deserved. After receiving a pass from Esmir Bajraktarevic, the Captain avoided a defender, cut inside the area and got off a shot that was headed inside the post, but keeper Eddie Roberts stretched all out to his left and managed to deflect the ball over the end line, turning in the save of the night.

Caleb Porter happy with the performance

“We came into the game having respect for [CA Independiente.] I thought they were up for the game. They’re an athletic team. They gave us a good test,” Caleb Porter told the media after the game. “I’ve been in these games many times. This is my fourth time in the tournament. It’s my first time in Panama but I’ve been in El Salvador, Honduras, Guyana, and Costa Rica, and it’s never easy. It’s never easy. And in football, there’s no easy games.”

Despite this being the team’s first official game of the season, the Revolution coach was pleased with the effort from his team.

“I thought in the second half we dictated the game the way we wanted to. We just didn’t get the goal, other than the first one, but we didn’t get the second goal. The field was difficult. That didn’t help our passing game,” Porter added. “But in the end, it’s a great result for us. We come on the road, we fly across the world here, and get a result and a good three points sets up the next leg.”

MLS referees have been locked out

Equally disturbing for all MLS fans is the fact that MLS referees have been locked out by the league and for the foreseeable future all games will be officiated by stand-in referees.

This came about because, as the Athletic pointed out, “the PSRA, the union that represents professional referees across MLS, the second- and third-tier United Soccer Leagues and the National Women’s Soccer League, and PRO, the MLS-funded body that manages professional officiating in the United States and Canada, failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in January.”

The Athletic revealed that PRO “had offered an overall three percent pay increase to its referees, while the PSRA had demanded an increase of up to 90 percent, with the largest of the increases reserved for its lowest-paid officials, such as assistant referees and fourth officials.”

Since the breaking off point, PRO has increased its offer “marginally,” but not enough for the two sides to reach agreement on a new contract.

The 2024 MLS regular season kicked off on Wednesday, with Inter Miami edging Real Salt Lake, 2-0, at Chase Stadium, in Fort Lauderdale.

Despite Leonel Messi’s presence, the game was officiated by stand-in referees, but there were no reports of any incidents during the game. However, the MLS Players Association (MLSPA), the labor union that represents MLS players, released a statement on Tuesday saying that “the use of replacement referees will not only negatively impact the quality and results of our matches, it may also jeopardize the health and safety of players.”

MLS commissioner Don Garber addressed the media on Wednesday but made no announcement of any scheduled meetings to resume talks.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Revolution begin MLS play Saturday at D.C. United