​D.C. United v New England Revolution: Porter says visitors will learn from squandered lead

​D.C. United v New England Revolution: Porter says visitors will learn from squandered lead

Ahead of the New England Revolution’s visit to D.C. United, head coach Caleb Porter said his players will learn from squandering a 2-0 lead in Saturday’s draw with Sporting Kansas City.

New England are unbeaten in seven straight regular-season matches (W4 D3) following their 3-3 draw with Kansas City last time out.

The Revs have played out a pair of 3-3 draws while keeping clean sheets in their other five matches in this span.

They led 2-0 at the break last time out, only to find themselves trailing 3-2 by the 61st minute. However, Maxi Urruti struck a late equaliser to preserve their unbeaten run and keep them two points outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

“We’ve got to reflect on the last game, it’s important to learn from that,” Porter told the club’s media channels on Monday.

“It was an outstanding first half, the best of the year. I loved the way we played and I think that gives us a good blueprint for the game model of how we want to execute.

“But you also saw the mentality wasn’t right in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

“It’s great for the guys to be able to see the good and then see what happens when you’re not as focused, not as hungry and don’t execute well.

“We can’t be one of the teams that does that if we’re going to achieve our goals. It was great for us to respond and not lose the game, so we put that behind us.”

Mid-week matchup. #DCvNE • #NERevs pic.twitter.com/FJpb9YAMdW

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) May 26, 2025

D.C. are 13th in the East, three places and five points behind New England, having lost 2-0 to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

Troy Lesesne’s men have not scored a league goal in their last four games, losing twice and playing out two goalless draws since beating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on May 4.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

D.C. United – Jacob Murrell

D.C. have gone four straight regular-season matches without a goal. This is the third time they have failed to score in four straight league games, also doing so in August 2022 and from July to August 2002 (both five-match streaks).

Murrel has just one goal in 15 MLS appearances this season and needs to spearhead an improvement in the D.C. attack.

New England Revolution – Maxi Urruti

Urruti scored his first regular-season MLS goal in over two years in New England’s draw with Kansas City on Saturday.

He has four career goals against D.C. United in league play, only scoring more against the Vancouver Whitecaps (nine).

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

D.C. United have won back-to-back matches against New England for the first time since 2016.

United Lens pic.twitter.com/yynkSbroTf

— D.C. United (@dcunited) May 26, 2025

They have only recorded one streak of three straight wins over New England in all competitions over the last 23 years, winning all three meetings during the 2012 season.

D.C. United have struggled at home lately, however, winning only three of their last 20 regular-season matches at Audi Field dating back to last May (D8 L9).

Their 17 home points in that time are tied with Toronto FC for fewest in MLS since the start of May 2024.

Given their struggles at home and in front of goal, it is difficult to have any confidence regarding their prospects.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

D.C. United – 37.4%

New England Revolution – 36.2%

Draw – 26.4%

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

en_USEnglish