In its first-ever return contest, Toronto FC felt a sense of déjà vu as the New England Revolution swept the Canadian team aside 3-0 at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night.
New England defeated TFC 4-0 at Gillette Stadium on April 14, and the performance and result for both sides was similar after New England was in control from the opening whistle, spurred on by a pair of goals from Andy Dorman.
Dorman opened the scoring in the 13th minute after Avery John's cross hit off Kevin Goldthwaite and deflected into his path. Pat Noonan doubled the lead with his 33rd-minute header before Dorman added his second in the 81st minute after a good combination with Khano Smith and Adam Cristman.
The result was New England's reward for carving out numerous chances and negating the Toronto FC offense in the second stanza despite allowing TFC significant portions of the possession in the first half.
With the win, New England snapped its three-match home winless streak and finished its four-game homestand at 1-1-2. The result left TFC still searching for the first road win in team history (0-4-1).
Toronto FC handed places on the bench to returning Canadian national team players Adam Braz and Chris Pozniak after Canada lost 2-1 to the United States in Thursday's CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal. Greg Sutton, also a member of that team, missed out through concussion, but Danny Dichio was passed fit after picking up an ankle injury in last weekend's 4-0 victory against FC Dallas.
New England named an unchanged side from last weekend's 3-3 draw with Columbus, with Michael Parkhurst and Steve Ralston set to rejoin the team next week after Gold Cup duty for the United States.
The match started in helter-skelter fashion as both teams attempted to put the ball down and play but could not seem to find any rhythm in the match's opening stages.
Dorman put the home side on the board after 13 minutes with the aid of a fortunate bounce. John's cross into the TFC area was a dangerous one and deflected into Dorman's path off Kevin Goldthwaite. Dorman gleefully hammered home from 10 yards to give the home side the lead.
Ronnie O'Brien nearly engineered a reply two minutes later but his long range effort was saved by the diving Matt Reis.
After Toronto had asserted itself with possession in the New England third, the Revs struck back with a second goal against the run of play in the 33rd minute.
The goal came seemingly out of thin air as Jeff Larentowicz played a diagonal ball into the penalty area towards Pat Noonan. Noonan beat Marvell Wynne to the cross and looped his header into the far corner past TFC 'keeper Srdjan Djekanovic.
Jeff Cunningham should have reclaimed one of those goals a minute later as he was played in alone behind the Revs defense but could only send a tame effort directly into the legs of Reis.
And Noonan spurned a golden opportunity to put the match on ice in the 36th minute. Jay Heaps played the ball in behind the Toronto FC defense into the path of Noonan. Djekanovic came off his line and dived at Noonan's feet to save the first shot, but the rebound fell right to Noonan with the empty net gaping. Noonan attempted to sidefoot his lob over the recovering Andrew Boyens but lifted the ball over the bar.
Cunningham created another chance in the 37th minute as he shot at Reis just before reaching the endline. Reis could only deflect the powerful shot out in front of goal. John and Dichio collided with their sliding attempts to divert the rebound and the ball squirted towards the far corner of the goal. Jay Heaps cleared the danger off the Revolution goal line.
Dorman had one last chance before the halftime whistle. Cristman knocked the ball down to Dorman's feet and Dorman lashed a shot along the ground that skipped narrowly wide of the far post.
Revolution midfielder Larentowicz was withdrawn at halftime and taken to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary with a right eye injury sustained after a late first-half collision.
Cristman carved out the first chance of the second half as he was headed towards another high ball before being decked by the onrushing Djekanovic. The Toronto FC 'keeper was given a yellow card and saved from a red card by the recovering Boyens. Shalrie Joseph curled the subsequent free kick over the bar.
Dorman nearly struck again in the 54th minute. Dorman created space 14 yards from goal and tried to swerve a shot around Djekanovic, but the TFC goaltender dove and caught the ball with Cristman waiting for any potential rebound.
Toronto FC tried to claw back into the game, with Maurice Edu's off-target 77th minute header its best chance and Andy Welsh forcing a save from Reis on 80 minutes, but New England repelled the TFC attack.
And there was time for one last flourish from the home side as New England made it three with a well-composed team goal in the 83rd minute. Smith cut inside diagonally and played the ball into the feet of Cristman. Cristman flicked the ball behind him with his heel into the run of Dorman, who finished at the near post with aplomb.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
