Skip to content

Revs beat Montreal as Thierry Henry pays touching tribute to George Floyd

Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The strong expressions of support for the Black Lives Matter movement by leading Major League Soccer figures continued Thursday as the Montreal Impact lost 1-0 to the New England Revolution.

Impact head coach Thierry Henry took a knee for the opening eight minutes and 46 seconds of the match, the widely reported amount of time that a Minneapolis policeman knelt on George Floyd's neck when he died May 25.

The Arsenal legend's touching tribute followed the powerful images during Wednesday's opener of the MLS is Back Tournament between Orlando City and Inter Miami. Philadelphia Union players also wore names of Black victims of police violence on the back of their jerseys for Thursday's meeting with New York City FC.

For Thursday's night match, the New England Revolution will feel aggrieved not to have scored more in their first match of the Orlando-based tournament. Montreal goalkeeper Clement Diop superbly pushed a Carles Gil effort wide of the post, Cristian Penilla flashed a shot past the post after evading several tackles, and Gustavo Bou had several good looks at goal before he wastefully lobbed wide when Diop was out of position.

And that was only in the first half.

Bou made amends in the second period, though, when he froze Rod Fanni with some slick footwork before smashing just below the bar in the 56th minute.

The pace slowed as both teams appeared to feel the rigors of the short run-up to the return-to-play tournament, but New England always seemed the likeliest to score. However, there was a scare for the Revs when Matt Turner acrobatically thwarted a Ballou Tabla shot in the final few seconds.

Bruce Arena's New England will face D.C. United next Thursday, while the Impact will take on Canadian rivals Toronto FC a day prior.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox