Coming off a clutch brace that delivered the New England Revolution a dramatic 3-3 draw at Atlanta United, midfielder Carles Gil has garnered MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire honors for Matchday 16.
The 2021 Landon Donovan MLS MVP struck for his first goal just 23 seconds into the match, then notched a last-gasp equalizer in the waning moments of second-half stoppage time to give the Revs the road point. The early opener was, at the time, the fastest goal of the season and tied for the second-fastest goal in club history, equaling Kei Kamara's goal against CF Montréal on Sept. 17, 2016.
Gil became the third player in MLS history to score in the first minute and 90th minute or later in a match, with the 92:07 elapsed between goals marking the third-most time between scores in a regular-season game in MLS history.
It was the second brace of Gil's career and the first since his third career MLS match on March 17, 2019 at Toronto FC. One of the league's most prolific attackers since his 2019 arrival from Spanish side Deportivo de La Coruña, Gil has now racked up 26 goals and 53 assists, joining Diego Fagúndez and Lee Nguyen as the only players in club history with at least 25 goals and 50 assists. The 79 goal contributions since 2019 rank third-most in MLS, trailing only the superstar duo of LAFC's Carlos Vela (97) and Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar (86).
Gil is the first New England player to win Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire honors since Adam Buksa did so in Matchday 32 of the 2021 season. It's the second time Gil has earned the distinction, the first time coming in Matchday 9 of the 2021 season. He's also the ninth player in Revs history to win the award multiple times with the club.
New England will look to procure another road result on Saturday (3:30 pm ET | Apple TV - Free) when they travel to Yankee Stadium to take on Eastern Conference foes New York City FC in Matchday 17.
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Continental Tire is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
