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3 takeaways from the Revolution’s 2-1 comeback win against the Crew
New England battled back with a spirited second-half display.
The Revolution continued their perfect start at home in 2026 with a 2-1 comeback win over the Crew on Saturday. Goals from Dor Turgeman and Carles Gil upended an earlier breakthrough from Columbus’s Max Arfsten.
New England is now 3-0-0 at home, and at 4-3-0 overall are now in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Here are a few takeaways:
Chasing the game in a tough start
New England, without the services of injured midfielder Matt Polster (or Jackson Yueill, who started in the previous MLS matchup against D.C. United and was also out with an injury) inserted Ethan Kohler into central midfield alongside Brooklyn Raines. The younger duo — Raines is 21, Kohler is 20 — faced off against a much more experienced Columbus pairing in André Gomes and Dylan Chambost (32 and 28 years old, respectively).
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This subplot bore out negative results for New England in the first half, as Gomes and Chambost frequently combined with each other and Crew forward Diego Rossi to play through their younger counterparts.
The dynamic changed little even after an early first-half injury to Revolution center back Brayan Ceballos forced Kohler to move back into central defense, with Alhassan Yusuf moving into center midfield (Peyton Miller was subbed on and moved to left wing).
Columbus was able to dictate play for a majority of the opening half, with Arfsten’s opening goal resulting partly from a leaky midfield. After Rossi dropped into midfield space to receive a pass, a quick combination (and a touch of bad luck on a mishit Yusuf clearance) resulted in his escaping down the right wing with the ball.
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Rossi then struck a perfectly placed low cross to the back post, where Arfsten was waiting. After the 25-year-old U.S. international deployed a perfect cutback (completely dropping Revolution right back Illay Feingold), he laced his shot inside the near-post just in front of the outstretched hands of New England goalkeeper Matt Turner, and the visitors were in the lead.
Set piece to the rescue once again
After struggling mightily to create goals from set pieces for years prior to 2026, it feels as if New England now scores on a weekly basis from dead-ball situations.
It happened yet again on Saturday, and right when New England needed a boost.
Having opened the second half with much more energy — the partial byproduct, as was explained in postgame, of a spirited halftime address from Revolution coach Marko Mitrović — New England eventually won a free kick just outside the Columbus 18-yard box.
Luca Langoni kept up his near-league-leading assist pace (he has six, trailing only LAFC’s Son Heung-Min with seven) by whipping in another excellent free kick. It found the well-placed head of Turgeman, who skillfully flicked the ball inside the far post to tie the game.
Hard work pays off (with a little luck)
After the game, both Mitrović and his players maintained that the halftime adjustments were mostly mental. Players responded to the head coach’s message about the team believing in itself, and the difference in the performance of the opening half versus the latter 45 minutes was night and day.
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Along with the tying goal, the Revolution eventually found a breakthrough after playing much more energetically.
Turgeman was once again a difference-maker, cutting inside Crew center back Rudy Camacho to nearly reach a cross from Feingold. In the process, Camacho dragged Turgeman to the ground, and a penalty kick was awarded to the home team.
Gil calmly stepped up to the spot and converted the penalty, and suddenly the Revolution had gone from a 0-1 deficit to a 2-1 lead.
The final minutes of the game were somewhat frantic, as Columbus threw themselves against New England’s defense in search of a tying goal. They nearly found it, too, thanks to (of all people) Camacho. Though the French center back has scored only one league goal in the last four seasons, his mishit shot after New England failed to quickly clear a corner kick dribbled through a crowd and struck the far post.
Testament to the Revolution’s changing fortunes at home in 2026, the ball (which might have snuck inside the post in previous years) clanged off the bar and out. The home side breathed a sigh of relief, and successfully held out for the remaining moments to clinch a win.
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