TORONTO — A very early goal by New England’s Diego Fagundez was cancelled out by a late first-half equalizer from TFC's Andrew Wiedeman as two Eastern Conference sides battled to a 1-1 draw at BMO Field on a rainy Friday evening in Toronto.
The Revolution opened the scoring in the 2nd minute when a penetrating run by Kelyn Rowe lead to a fortuitous deflection off TFC defender Richard Eckersley that allowed the New England midfielder to set up Fagundez for an easy tap in and his team-leading 9th goal of the season.
Fagundez came close to making it a brace four minutes later when some nice interplay between the Revolution attackers allowed the 18 year old Uruguayan to get off a curling shot that required a fine diving save by TFC keeper Joe Bendik.
That save loomed large throughout, and never bigger than in first half injury time when a scramble in the Revolution box ended with Wiedeman blasting a loose ball past Matt Reis for the equalizer.
With neither side generating any significant scoring chances in the second half, Ryan Nelsen and Jay Heaps attempted to give their respective squads a boost with TFC striker Maxi Urruti replacing Robert Earnshaw and New England’s Saer Sene coming on for Juan Agudelo in the 78th minute.
Toronto appeared to have engineered a winner on a free kick in the 88th minute but Steven Caldwell’s header into the top left corner of the Revolution net was called off by the referee due to a push by the TFC captain.
With the draw, Toronto came away with a point for a second straight match while New England remained winless at BMO Field with a record of two losses and five draws in seven all-time visits. The Revs provisionally take sole hold of fifth in the East in 37 points, though that could change given the outcome of Sunday’s contest between Chicago and Houston.
The Revolution return to action on Sunday, September 8th against the Montreal Impact at Gillette Stadium, while TFC will face the Portland Timbers on Saturday, September 7th at JELD-WEN Field.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/doneil-henry" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:12px;">Doneil Henry</span></strong></a> |
Neutralize Juan Agudelo, and you're in good shape against the Revs. Henry was up to the task all night for the home team. |
2 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/scott-caldwell" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:12px;">Scott Caldwell</span></strong></a> |
The "other" Caldwell on the field had the more noticeable game, but the Revs rookie was the man most responsible for keeping TFC's midfield from generating chances up the gut. |
3 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/joe-bendik" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:12px;">Joe Bendik</span></strong></a> |
Could do nothing on the goal, and produced yet another highlight-reel save minutes later. Commanded his box well as usual, and continued to be the brightest spot in TFC's 2013 season. |
