The New England Revolution captured their third victory of the season despite themselves.

The Revolution (3-10-1) gave up two penalty kicks in the second half but held on to secure a 2-1 victory over Nashville SC (4-5-7) on Saturday night at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tenn.

The Revolution survived 11-plus minutes of stoppage to capture their second road win. The Revolution return home for the first of two at Gillette Stadium starting with the New York Red Bulls on June 8.

“At the end it was batten down the hatches and grinding out the win,” said Revolution head coach Caleb Porter. “They played with passion and it took everybody and again, it was a game where we had a lot of things going against us with two penalties.

“Our guys weren’t going to be victims today. They refused to lose and you could see that. To come in to their place and get a result should give our guys a lot of confidence. We are back at home now for two games and we need to build on this.”

The Revolution appeared on cruise control to victory when homegrown Esmir Bajraktarevic scored his first MLS goal of the season to make it 2-0 in the 51st minute. Bajraktarevic will miss the Red Bulls’ game while away competing for a slot on the U.S. Olympic team next weekend in Kansas City, Kan.

“Esmir I’m so happy for, he’s a talented young kid,” said Porter. “He’s been getting in really good spots and the goal that he scored, he took the initiative.”

But the Revolution nearly stumbled their way into another disaster when center back Xavier Arreaga was called for a hand ball and issued a red card by referee Ismael Elnath in the 53rd minute.

Elfath went to the monitors and changed it to a yellow card. Revolution keeper Aljaz Ivacic then stoned midfielder Hany Mukhtar, the 2022 league MVP, on the penalty kick to preserve the 2-0 lead. Mukhtar would later hit the post in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Nashville was awarded its second penalty kick when center back Dave Romney drew a foul in the penalty area in the 79th minute. Mukhtar learned from his previous miscue and made it 2-1 with a shot inside the near post for his fourth of the season.

“Aljaz is a great goalie,” said Porter. “He is a gamer and those are the types of match winning plays you need out of your guys.”

Porter had to restructure the final third of his 4-2-3-1 scheme from the Starting XI he employed in the Revolution’s 1-0 loss to New York City FC on May 25 at Gillette Stadium. Attacking forward Tomas Chancalay, who leads the team with 47 shots and 15 shots on goal, suffered a knee injury in the 10th minute against NYCFC and is out for an indefinite period. Chancalay was replaced by Dylan Barrero, who is building himself back from knee surgery.

The Revolution opened the scoring in the 18th minute when captain Carles Gil scored his team-high sixth of the season. Gil got under a clear from Barrero on the right flank and cut laterally across the top of the box into the penalty arc. Gil found a seam between the defenders and unloaded with his left foot to beat Nashville keeper Joe Willis to the far post. It was just the third time in 14 games the Revolution scored the opener.

Nashville nearly scored the equalizer in the 22nd minute on a busy play in the middle of the penalty area. Midfielder Alex Muyl got unchallenged to a rebound but his uncontested shot deflected high off the crossbar. Nashville had follow-up forays deep in the New England end but failed to make a shot on target.

New England closed out the half with a clock draining possession game while generating a few scoring opportunities for striker Giacomo Vrioni in the penalty area. Nashville outshot the Revolution 9-5 in the half.