Revolution Making Gillette Stadium A Tough Place To Visit
BOSTON (CBS) -- The New England Revolution know that if they want to remain a first-place team, they're going to have to make a trip to Gillette Stadium something opposing clubs groan about. So far so good in 2021.
The Revs were just 2-3-5 on their home turf last season, and that was not going to be tolerated for a team that has MLS Cup aspirations this season. Thus far this season, the Revolution have won all three of their home matches, already surpassing last season's win total at Gillette Stadium.
"It's important. You have to have a home-field advantage here at Gillette, and I think we do," sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena said following Sunday night's 1-0 victory over Columbus SC. "We had a new field this year that allows you to play better. I think it's really been helpful for us. Any team in the league would tell you that. You have to win your home games and you've got to pick up points on the road during the year. It's a good start at home, and that's an important aspect to being successful over a 34-game schedule."
Sunday night was Arena's 10th win at Gillette as the man in charge of the Revs. As he alluded to, the new turf in Foxboro is making a difference, and his players know that they need to establish some home dominance if they want to remain atop the standings over the next four months.
"We harped on it a lot, that we need to make this place tough to play at. Our goal is to always be really competitive here and pick up a majority of our wins here," said midfielder Matt Polster. "I think with turf playing a factor, teams aren't used to it so we needed to make sure that when people come here they're not comfortable. So, I thought we did that really well today and I thought Columbus struggled to create good chances and I thought we had a bunch of chances. I had a good chance at scoring, so I thought we created a lot of good chances today so we deserved to win."
Sunday's win marks the first time that New England has registered wins in its first three home contests since 2005, when the Revolution won their first four matches at Gillette Stadium en route to an appearance in MLS Cup.
New England will look to keep its home dominance going Saturday night when the New York Red Bulls come to town.
