Revolution Tie Club Record With Six Goals, Rout FC Cincinnati 6-1 Behind Luca Langoni

For about six minutes on Sunday afternoon, FC Cincinnati looked like the team that would spoil New England's home opener. Then Luca Langoni started swinging in crosses, the Revolution started heading them in, and Gillette Stadium's brand-new grass turned into a launch pad.

New England won 6-1, coming from a goal down to bury a Cincinnati side that finished with 10 men. MLS said the six goals tied a club record, and the win was the first for head coach Marko Mitrović, who replaced Caleb Porter ahead of the season. It was a new look for the stadium, too: per the AP, the Revs had not played on grass at home since switching to turf in 2006, and the field was freshly laid for the FIFA World Cup.

Cincinnati Strikes, Then the Crosses Start Flying

Cincinnati had the early juice. Evander tested Matt Turner twice in the first 12 minutes, and in the 19th he slipped the ball to Gerardo Valenzuela, who finished right-footed from the center of the box into the bottom right corner. 1-0 visitors.

The lead lasted six minutes. In the 25th, Langoni delivered a set-piece cross and Brayan Ceballos, a center back, rose in the middle of the box to head it into the top right corner. Evander answered with another shot that Turner saved a minute later, but the momentum had flipped.

In the 31st minute, Langoni delivered another cross and Dor Turgeman headed it through the middle of the goal for a 2-1 lead. William Sands nearly made it three with a header that slid just wide in the 34th.

Then came the dagger. Three minutes into first-half stoppage time, after Roman Celentano pushed a Carles Gil shot behind for New England's only corner of the day, Langoni sent it in and Ceballos headed home from the left side of the six-yard box. 3-1 at halftime, and Langoni had three assists before the break.

The Turning Point: A Rebound and a Red

Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan threw on Kévin Denkey, Tom Barlow and Ender Echenique at halftime and briefly got some pressure going. Denkey and Echenique both had shots blocked in the 47th minute.

New England killed that hope in the 53rd. Gil fired from the right side of the six-yard box, Celentano got a piece of it, and Alhassan Yusuf headed in the rebound for 4-1. That was four headed goals for the Revs, and MLS said no team had done that since the Red Bulls in a 7-0 win over New York City FC in 2016.

Any thought of a comeback ended in the 69th minute, when Valenzuela was sent off. Cincinnati's own account called it a straight red for a late charge on Ilay Feingold, who was replaced by Ethan Kohler four minutes later because of an injury.

Langoni, Ceballos and the Bench Brigade

Langoni was the engine. All three of his assists came before halftime, and MLS said he joined Lee Nguyen as the only New England players to record three or more assists in a single half. Three assists from the right side in one half. Peak playmaker energy.

Ceballos turned into a surprise target man. His two headers came on his only two shots, and MLS called it the first multi-goal game of his career. The AP noted he scored once in 29 appearances as a rookie last season, so this was a career year in one afternoon.

Turgeman had a goal and an assist, and the AP said he now has four goals and two assists in six career appearances dating to last season. Turner, back with the club after making 102 appearances from 2016 to 2022 per the AP, made seven saves, including three in second-half stoppage time.

The bench finished it. Griffin Yow, on for Langoni in the 73rd, sent a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner in the 87th for his first goal of the season. Two minutes later, Peyton Miller, the 18-year-old homegrown who MLS said was playing his first minutes of the season in his return from injury, smashed a Turgeman pass into the top left corner. Club legend Diego Fagúndez, brought back via free agency on Friday per MLS, also got a late cameo in place of Gil.

"I'm happy that Peyton is back. Peyton is one of the top talents we have in US Soccer, in general," Mitrović said.

Stats That Matter

• Saves: Turner 7, Celentano 3. Cincinnati put 9 shots on target and scored once.
• Shots: New England 16, Cincinnati 15. The totals were close; the finishing was not.
• Possession: New England 55.3 percent, Cincinnati 44.7 percent.
• Passing: The Revs completed 504 of 565 passes; Cincinnati completed 377 of 457.
• Corners: New England took one corner all game and scored from it.

What It Means

The Revolution climb to 1-0-2 with 3 points after opening with road losses at Nashville and the Red Bulls, in which, per the AP, they were outscored 5-1. Mitrović was quick to frame the day around process: "For me, more than six goals, what matters is the way we played," he said, per MLS. Next up is a trip to St. Louis CITY SC on Saturday.

Cincinnati falls to 1-0-3 with 3 points and has lost three straight MLS matches, a stretch that includes 1-0 defeats at Minnesota and at home against Toronto FC. The AP noted Cincinnati had won 2-1 and 1-0 on its previous two trips to Gillette Stadium, which makes this one sting more.

"Not a lot of answers for what we saw," Noonan said to open his press conference, per the club. "Another bad league performance and result. A lot of things done poorly." He also refused to hide behind a rotated lineup: "Doesn't matter how many changes, it shouldn't justify the way we played and the end result."

Cincinnati's next game is a Concacaf Champions Cup date with Tigres UANL in Monterrey on Thursday.

Closing Take

New England spent the first two weeks of the season looking for an identity and found one in the air. Six goals, four headers and a 24-year-old winger playing quarterback from the touchline. Mitrović admitted that kind of performance is hard to repeat week after week. Fair enough. But the Revs just showed what the ceiling looks like, and it is a lot higher than a 0-2 start suggested.

Stats from ESPN's match data and the AP recap via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by MLS (mlssoccer.com) and FC Cincinnati (fccincinnati.com).