New England Revolution saw off Orlando City 4-2 at Gillette Stadium in the 26th round of Major League Soccer. The hosts took a slender lead through Carlisle Gil in the 19th minute, but Orlando responded with two quick strikes to take control before the visitors added a penalty in the 88th. New England then found two more in injury time, both from Pat Miller and Gil, to turn a fragile lead into a three-point win.
I was watching the whole thing, and here's the thing — the match really turned in the second half. Orlando came out after the break looking sharper, and Luis Otavio and T. Spicer came on together in the 46th minute to change the tempo. By then New England had already shown they weren't going to sit back, but the visitors' movement was telling. Angulo's equaliser in the 62nd minute put the home side under real pressure.
The statistics tell a certain story, though I've always found them to be the background, not the picture. New England had 51 per cent possession and 105 attacks against 71 for the visitors. They landed 9 shots on target to Orlando's 5, and their expected goals stood at 1.78 compared to 1.36. But the numbers don't show how many times the home side switched off at the back, or how Orlando kept their heads when the pressure came.
We had called for a home win before kick-off, 59 per cent confidence. To be fair, New England had the deeper squad and that showed when the game opened up. They took their chances in the final minutes — Miller's second in 90+3, then Gil's double in 90+6. Two substitutions came on for both sides in that period, D. Gazdag and J. Gerbet for the hosts, D. Turgeman and M. Polster for Orlando, but neither could change the outcome.
Four yellow cards were shown in total, Raines and Sands for New England, Feingold and Miller for the visitors. Miller's booking in 90+4 came after his penalty goal, and Sands had already picked one up in the 47th minute. The home side made 15 clearances and won 7 aerial duels, Orlando matched them on clearances but lost the aerial battle 4 to 7.
The result keeps New England in third place with 46 points from 26 games, while Orlando drop further to seventh with 34. The hosts have now won two of their last five, with a draw and two losses in between — not the form they'd want, but this one mattered. Orlando came into the match with more momentum, having won three of their last four, but the old head settled them down when it counted.
