“It’s a funny sport, you know?” Caleb Porter said after collecting his first league win as Revolution head coach. “I don’t think we’ve gotten many breaks, and I thought we got a few breaks this game. We were a bit fortunate, frankly, early in the game, and then from there, we found our way into the game and scored a great goal.”

Here are a few takeaways:

Revolution deliver on Porter’s “promise” by the thinnest of margins.

After an unforeseen switch to a three-back system in the midweek Champions Cup debacle against Club América, Porter reverted to the familiar 4-2-3-1 system.

Nick Lima came into the starting lineup at right back, as did Ian Harkes (in center midfield), and Henrich Ravas (as goalkeeper).

Despite promising a win in an offhanded pregame comment—a moment he later admitted was a “poor word choice“—Porter’s team got off to a comparatively bad start. New England’s commitment to playing out of the back has produced results at various points—and some eye-pleasing soccer—but also has its drawbacks.

This was on full display in the opening 15 minutes, as New England handed the visitors several chances (particularly striker Patrick Agyemang) through turnovers in their own half. Fortunately for the Revolution, Charlotte failed to capitalize.

Even after taking the lead, New England lacked any semblance of control over the game Case in point: Having held a clear advantage in possession through halftime, the Revolution finished in the overall minority (48/52%). And while possession as a statistic by itself is often a misleading measurement of the game, it does illustrate the frustrating inability of the home team to simply keep the ball while protecting a lead in the second half.

The final few moments were a microcosm of this, as several last-ditch tackles and clearances were required (from Henry Kessler in particular) to survive a fairly frantic six minutes of stoppage time.

Luckily, the three points count in the standings regardless of how a win is achieved. Beyond that small but reassuring fact, however, Porter will still have plenty to ponder as he looks ahead.

Finding the right balance in both attack and defense remains elusive.

Both in and out of possession, Porter’s team appears to still be searching for its optimal habits.

Playing out of the back vs. playing more vertically remains a quandary, as does the defensive equivalent (keeping players behind the ball vs. trying to position for the counterattack).

Charlotte attempted to play a high line, an unusually aggressive tactical choice for a team coming into Gillette Stadium, and created repeated issues as New England tried a more methodical approach to its buildup.

It was only when Gil, Tomás Chancalay, and the rest of the New England attack started to push more quickly in transition that the game opened up.

“The first 10 minutes again, it was more of like, keep the ball and go nowhere,” Porter acknowledged. “That’s not what I want, but then from there, they started playing forward and playing quicker and going to goal. All of a sudden, our tail went up and we started getting confident, and we [got] a couple chances, the crowd gets into the game. That’s more of what I want to see.”

The questions at goalkeeper will continue.

The Revolution situation at goalkeeper has been an early subplot to watch in 2024, as Ravas—signed in the offseason to provide a viable replacement for Djordje Petrovic—was recently benched in favor of veteran Earl Edwards Jr.

The two-game audition was less than stellar: A 1-1 draw against Chicago followed by the 4-0 demolition from Club América.

And while Edwards couldn’t be fully blamed for either result, he failed to make a strong case to win the starting role, resulting in Ravas’s return on Saturday.

The Slovakian international produced some strong saves, and displayed sure hands in important moments (especially in the nervous final few minutes).

Still, questions will remain about his decision-making thanks to one extremely prominent blunder in the first half. In the seventh minute, Ravas dwelled on the ball too long and Charlotte striker Patrick Agyemang closed in, poking the ball away.

Caught out of net and dispossessed, Ravas (and New England) was only saved thanks to a tight angle, as Agyemang somehow missed the empty net.

While it was ultimately a clean sheet for Ravas, it was far from the resounding response to the benching Porter may have been looking for.

Giacomo Vrioni has not been good enough.

The Revolution’s center forward has one goal in five MLS games this season, a less-than-ideal scoring rate for one of the team’s Designated Players. If New England is to mount anything close to a title challenge in 2024, Vrioni will need to become much more prolific.

He had multiple opportunities on Saturday, glancing the crossbar with a first-half header (and narrowly missing with another). In the 45th minute, he was played in on a breakaway thanks to a great early pass from Chancalay. Characteristic of his current form, Vrioni took a poor first touch and ended up dribbling too wide. His attempted finish was easily blocked.

Porter remained sympathetic to Vrioni, saying after the game that he’s “happy that [Vrioni’s] giving everything he has.” But given his lack of goals, Porter acknowledged reality regarding the Italian-Albanian forward.

“Can he do better a few times? Yes, but I’m confident that we’ll continue to hopefully grow and grow,” Porter explained. “But yeah, we need more [goals], no doubt, and he would admit that too, but he’s trying. He’s trying to give everything he has.”