Montreal Impact Vs New England Revolution: 3 things we learned – Gustavo Bou takes the reins

1. Revolution take step towards knockout round

With a third-place finish being all that is potentially needed to qualify for the knockout round, the New England Revolution took a big step towards making it to the next phase of the tournament. The Revolution may only need one more point to qualify for the Round of 16 which puts them in a great position entering their next two matches against D.C. United and Toronto FC.

For the Impact, they must get something against Toronto FC. One positive is their goal differential, which is far more important across a three-game sample size, but losing your opening match always makes progression to the knockout stages challenging.

You would expect the Revolution to be fighting with Toronto for first place in the group. They were dangerous here and started to come together in the second half, even if they tired late on. Bruce Arena knows how to win and he has supreme talent at his disposal, especially in the attacking areas of the pitch.

The Revolution cannot grow complacent with an opening fixture victory, of course, but after their performance, they should be encouraged that they can go on and finish among the top two spots in the group.