New England Revolution
Midfield control, a nice night for Dor Turgeman, and a Jack Harrison sighting.
Carles Gil during the Revolution’s 4-1 win over Atlanta on July 26. Via New England Revolution
July 26, 2026 | 8:25 AM
4 minutes to read
The Revolution defeated Atlanta United 4-1 on Saturday in front of 34,428 at Gillette Stadium. With the win, New England moves up to third place in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer.
First half goals from Carles Gil and Dor Turgeman ensured a fast start for the Revolution. Additional breakthroughs from Peyton Miller and Brooklyn Raines in the second half ensured that Miguel Almiron’s 85th minute score was nothing more than a consolation goal for the visitors.
Here are the takeaways:
Revolution midfield asserts control
Facing an Atlanta midfield that was clearly unafraid of physicality, New England’s trio of Alhassan Yusuf and Brooklyn Raines (playing in more traditional central midfield roles) with Gil just ahead of them looked comfortable.
Gil found the opener after completing a characteristically skillful cut inside onto his favored left foot before curling the ball just past the outstretched hands of Atlanta goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos into the far corner.
The second goal came after a mesmerizing sequence in which Gil, Raines, and Yusuf all combined in the final third before the latter’s cross found the clever near-post run of Turgeman.
Beyond the goals, the Yusuf-Raines-Gil trio were three of the team’s most involved players.
Though there were moments in which New England lost control — Atlanta nearly scored in the 41st minute when Almiron made it through, but his effort hit the post — most of the night belonged to the Revolution in the middle of the pitch.
The central midfielders completed 163 of 177 attempted passes, good for 92-percent accuracy. Especially in a game against Atlanta (a team that has struggled to generate consistent offense), midfield control was one of the surest recipes to produce victory.
Raines, who seems to have grown by leaps and bounds in confidence since the start of the season, notched a nice milestone when he scored the first professional goal of his career in the second half:
Turgeman’s effective performance
With Leo Campana’s continued absence due to injury, the burden of leading the line for the Revolution attack has fallen onto the shoulders of Turgeman.
The 22-year-old is not a traditional No. 9 center forward, in that he is not only capable of, but prefers to move around and feature as more than a target fixed in a central spot. This has created consistency issues in the eyes of some, especially as Turgeman’s goal volume has failed to live up to the expected standards of the position he’s playing.
Yet he contributes far more to the team than many of his recent predecessors have in that role, including his passing capacity.
This was on display in New England’s first and third goals. Turgeman’s hold-up play helped jumpstart the sequence leading up to Gil’s opener. After great distribution from goalkeeper Matt Turner, Turgeman received the ball and held it up until his teammates arrived farther up the field. He then sprayed a perfect cross-field switch of play to (right back) Matt Polster, whose ensuing pass proved to be the assist for Gil’s goal.
The third goal came from effective zone defense, with Yusuf making the initial interception on an errant Atlanta pass in their own half. Turgeman then recovered the ball and made the simple but intelligent pass to Gil (with the goal eventually flowing from a Yusuf cross to Miller).
Add in Turgeman actually scoring the second goal himself — a nice finish after an even better near-post run — and that’s a pretty good night for New England’s center forward.
Is the backline settled after the Ceballos trade?
Once the game began to flow against Atlanta, and New England’s midfield took control, it became less of a night to analyze the Revolution defense.
Yet after the recent decision to trade center-back Brayan Ceballos to CF Montreal for General Allocation Money, the central pairing of Mamadou Fofana and Ethan Kohler will be scrutinized. Kohler has looked capable, but he is young (just 21 years old). Ceballos was an established starting defender who also has three goals to his name this season.
Kohler as a starting center-back also means there is less depth at right back, an issue that immediately went under the microscope with Ilay Feingold being ruled out with an injury. Polster has filled in admirably at right back, but having one less available defender has already shown to be risky. As New England eventually face tougher tests than Toronto and Atlanta, the decision to send Ceballos elsewhere might be reexamined.
Jack Harrison is here
The club officially unveiled the signing of winger Jack Harrison on Saturday, introducing him to the crowd beforehand.
Harrison, 29, arrives in MLS at a time when he should still have plenty of good soccer in his future. His pace and skill will be a welcomed lift to New England’s lineup, which has often looked like it was missing a skill player or two.
The likely change will be either Griffin Yow or (as was the case on Saturday) Marcos Zambrano heading to the bench, with Harrison starting alongside Turgeman, Luca Langoni, and Gil as an attacking quartet.
That is a potentially dangerous attack by MLS standards. As the second half of the season begins to hit its stride, is New England gathering itself to make a run at MLS Cup?
Hayden Bird
Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.
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