TORONTO - It all went wrong for Toronto FC and so very right for the New England Revolution on a hot night in Toronto.
The Revolution walked out of BMO Field with three points after picking up a convincing 3-0 victory on Saturday. Goals scored by Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe and Teal Bunbury separated the two sides in a match and Jermaine Jones made his MLS debut by coming off the New England bench in the 65th minute.
The decisive strike came in the second minute. Jay Heaps’ high-pressure midfield line swarmed around the TFC half and when Mark Bloom, playing left fullback on the day, misplaced a pass towards Michael Bradley, Nguyen pounced at the chance. Nguyen pushed forward towards the box and cracked a rocket of a shot past Joe Bendik to give the Revolution an early 1-0 lead that they would not relinquish.
Toronto FC began hunting for an equalizer effort but continued giving the ball away needlessly, and in the 21st minute, New England punished Toronto’s makeshift back line once more. Bradley Orr’s pass forward to Dominic Oduro was intercepted by Rowe, who cut in from the left wing and brushed past Bradley, before hitting a curling, dipping shot past Bendik for his side’s second goal in the first half.
Up 2-0, New England sat back as TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen adjusted his team from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2, Luke Moore moving forward beside Gilberto and Jonathan Osorio slotting back to the left wing. But, besides a few half-chances conjured by the foot of Gilberto, Toronto FC could do little in the first half to work towards an equalizing effort.
Toronto FC looked slightly more composed at the start of the second half, controlling the flow of the match, while New England sat content to absorb the opposition’s pressure. That move by the Revolution paid off once more as they quickly countered in the 59th minute and suddenly left Toronto FC’s back line completely exposed.
Charlie Davies picked up a through ball and pushed through the Toronto back line, and Bendik could not catch him before Davies slipped a pass into the box. Bunbury – one of many choices that had sprung forward to greet the ball – finished with ease to give New England a 3-0 lead at the hour mark.
Minutes later, Osorio tested Revs netminder Bobby Shuttleworth with a shot that the goalkeeper saved. Jones entered the match shortly after and looked solid in his first 25 minutes of competitive action since the World Cup in Brazil, helping the Revolution close out the shutout victory.
New England next take on Sporting Kansas City at Gillette Stadium on Sep. 3 while Toronto FC face a shorter turnaround, having to travel to PPL Park to take on the Philadelphia Union for a Wednesday contest.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/lee-nguyen" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Lee Nguyen</span></a> |
Set the tone for the commanding win with a well-taken goal in the second minute, played a nifty pass to set up the insurance tally, and bossed the midfield with confident dribbles, sharp passes and quick movement. |
2 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/kelyn-rowe" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12px;">Kelyn Rowe</span></a> |
The midfielder scored on a strike that's worthy of Goal of the Week consideration, and helped set up New England's third. Another key component to the Revolution's midfield success in this one. |
3 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/aj-soares" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">AJ Soares</span></a> |
Going up against crafty forward Gilberto, Soares impressively shutdown the point of Toronto FC's attack for the entire 90 minutes. He also had a nifty clearance to help post the cleansheet. |
