3 takeaways from the Revolution’s 2-1 loss vs. Charlotte FC

New England Revolution

The already thin playoff hopes grew even thinner after another home defeat.

The Revolution lost 2-1 at home against Charlotte FC on Saturday night in what was another blow to the team’s already thin playoff hopes.

A Brandt Bronico goal in the 12th minute from close range gave the visitors an early lead. But after Revolution forward Igantius Ganago leveled the proceedings in the 24th minute, it appeared that the home team might be able to go one better and grab a winner.

Yet after a plethora of chances came and went for New England, it was Charlotte forward Idan Toklomati who found the decisive third goal, heading in the go-ahead score from close range on a free kick in the 87th minute.

New England fell to 3-9-2 at home in 2025 league matches, with Charlotte notching an eighth straight win.

Here are a few takeaways from another frustrating night at Gillette Stadium for the Revolution:

A tentative start resulted in yielding the opening goal.

Though the Revolution played well for large tracts of the game, much of it didn’t come until later in the match. For most of the opening 15 minutes, New England failed to create in the attacking third (and struggled at times to simply get the ball out of their own half of the field).

This may have helped Charlotte settle into the road atmosphere and create the early goal.

Attempting to contain talented winger Wilfried Zaha, the Revolution midfield failed to close down his cross-field pass, which found Kerwin Vargas at the back post.

Vargas correctly opted to head Zaha’s pass back across goal, where Bronico was lurking. Though the 30-year-old Bronico wasn’t the cleanest with his finish — the ball was nearly swept off the line by Brayan Ceballos — but the referee judged that it had crossed the goal line and awarded Charlotte a 1-0 lead.

The Revolution were the better team for much of the game, but couldn’t take full advantage.

Not for the first time in 2025, the Revolution can look back at the game and say that they probably played better than the final scoreline would indicate.

Both in terms of official stats like expected goals (which New England won on the night, 3.3 vs. 2.1, according to MLS stats) and more anecdotal observations, the Revolution appeared to be the more likely of the two teams to take all three points.

Luck was also partly a factor, as both Alhassan Yusuf and Luca Langoni hit the post.

Yet despite the quality ball movement, the increased passing tempo after allowing the first goal, and the largely effective defense of Zaha (who had played a more central role in the two teams’ first matchup in April), the Revolution were unable to take a lead at any point.

As has been a theme throughout the season, timely finishing was absent in a game separated by fine margins.

What does this mean for any remaining playoff hopes?

With the loss, the Revolution remain in 11th place in the Eastern Conference (seemingly New England’s perpetual home for months).

Six games remain in the season to claw back a nine-point gap to the current playoff line.

Still, Saturday was a golden opportunity — as all home games are — to get a vital win. Failing to do that, or to even register a draw, represents the latest setback to what was already an uphill climb.

New England will face Chicago on the road next Saturday. One of the few remaining Revolution silver linings is that the team has been 5-4-5 on the road this season, significantly better than the club’s home record. As will be the case for the rest of the year, the next game is a must-win.