Chelsea FC’s 3-0 win over the New England Revolution in a “Final Whistle on Hate” charity match Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium marked Bruce Arena’s first game since being named Revolution sporting director and head coach the previous day.
But Arena viewed the match in a suite, part of a crowd of 27,329, while interim coach Mike Lapper guided the team, and will not likely actually coach the team until a visit to the Los Angeles Galaxy on June 2. Arena was spotted in a suite with team owner Robert Kraft and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
The Revs’ performance against Chelsea indicated what many already knew: The club, in its current form, is nowhere near competitive against an opponent of this caliber. Ross Barkley has not scored twice in a game since 2015, but he produced a brace against New England, while French striker Olivier Giroud scored the other.
