3 takeaways from the Revolution’s 2-1 win over Atlanta United

Beyond the scoring, New England’s movement and passing looked cohesive and dominant, pinning Atlanta back for much of the first half.

Part of it appeared to be an effective tactical plan that Arena and his coaching staff deployed. The Revolution opted for a 4-2-3-1, while the opposition started in a 3-5-2 (that effectively became a 5-3-2 in defense).

Forward Justin Rennicks, making a rare start for New England, took up an interesting position. Though nominally a right-sided attacking midfielder, the reality was that he played more like a right winger, occupying space higher up the field. He consistently found gaps in between Atlanta’s center back Luis Abram and left wingback Caleb Wiley, providing a passing outlet for his teammates.

“We wanted to attack them in a certain way,” Arena said after the game, “and I think he did a real good job in the in the first half. Overall, a good performance.”

This, plus the natural width on the left provided by New England outside back Ryan Spaulding, helped the Revolution stretch the field horizontally and create more space for Gil, Gustavo Bou, and the rest of New England’s attack.

The dynamic switched in the second half.

At halftime, Atlanta made a pair of changes. Matheus Rossetto came on for Sosa, and Derrick Etienne subbed on for Tyler Wolff. The outcome of the switch was that United moved to a 4-2-1-3, and began to take control of the game.

Atlanta playmaker Thiago Almada, who had been the team’s most active player in the difficult circumstances of the first half, started to take charge as the game progressed.

In all, he totaled nine shots, five key passes, and a game-high 85 touches on the ball. Yet many of his shots were from distance, as the Revolution defense — unable to stop Almada — was at least able to limit him to lower percentage chances.

“It seemed like he had his way with us for long periods of time,” Arena admitted of Almada. “I bet he had 10 shots on goal tonight, if not more. He was good but we were able to stand him up outside the penalty area. If he’s going to try to beat Djordje from 18-20 yards out, he’s going to have a difficult time.”

Once again, Djordje Petrović faced a barrage of shots and did not flinch.

For the third game in a row, Revolution All-Star goalkeeper Djordje Petrović faced more than 20 shots (though not all were on-net). It was indicative of Almada’s force of personality as the Argentine tried to will his team back into the game.

Yet though United huffed and puffed, they only managed to find a way through Petrović in the last minute. The New England keeper made several point-blank saves, and many more on shots from distance.

Several days after a game in which he made a rare mental mistake with his distribution — unnecessarily rolling the ball out to Polster in a dangerous, central position, from which the ball was turned over and New England eventually gave up the losing goal — the Serbian’s decision making was sound on Wednesday.

He ended up completing 81 percent of his passes, including 10 of 16 long balls.

Whether or not he will start in next week’s All-Star Game against Arsenal (and possibly former Revolution teammate Matt Turner) remains to be seen. But as Spaulding said afterward, the 23-year-old Petrović inspires confidence.

“He’s the best goalie in the league.”