• Toronto FC 1 Hasler (84’), New England Revolution 2 (Nguyen 82’, Kamara 87’)
GAME RECAP IN A SENTENCE
A Toronto FC side without four starters – including its top two forwards for a third consecutive match – missed a chance to clinch the Supporters’ Shield as it suffered a late loss against a resilient New England Revolution squad.
THE STORY
It was all set up for Toronto FC to claim the Supporters’ Shield on Saturday night. A victory would have clinched it. Instead, the Reds will have to delay the celebrations for a few more days.
It’s a matter of when, not if, TFC will win the trophy that goes to the team that finishes the MLS regular season in first place. Winning the Shield comes with the added bonus of clinching home-field advantage all the way through the playoffs, including the MLS Cup final. Toronto still controls its destiny with three games to play, so their time will come. But that time wasn’t on Saturday, as coach Greg Vanney’s men limped to their second consecutive loss in four days.
While forwards Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco were unavailable due to injuries, the Reds welcomed Victor Vazquez back into the starting line-up after he sat out Wednesday’s home defeat to Montreal. But not even the Spanish playmaker’s presence could inspire Toronto on this evening.
TFC enjoyed the majority of possession, dictated the pace of the game for long stretches, and captain Michael Bradley had plenty of space in midfield to operate and wield his magic. For all of that, though, the Reds never imposed themselves on the contest, and managed only two shots on target. New England’s defence did a good job of cutting off the supply line to forward Tosaint Ricketts, effectively shutting down Toronto in the final third of the pitch.
A sleepy opening 45 minutes gave way to a more energetic second half, with the Revs asserting themselves in attack and asking questions of goalkeeper Clint Irwin. Lee Nguyen entered the game as a substitute and fearlessly ran straight at Toronto’s back line. It was his goal in the 82nd minute, which took a fortuitous deflection off defender Drew Moor, that handcuffed Irwin and slipped into the back of the net.
Toronto, to its credit, responded within two minutes. Bradley played a gorgeous, inch-perfect, diagonal ball to the back post that Nicolas Hasler ran onto and ruthlessly slotted home.
The Reds looked like they were going to walk out of New England with a point. But they turned off while setting up to defend a corner kick, and Nguyen played a dangerous ball into the box that Kei Kamara headed past Irwin with three minutes left in regulation.
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KEY MOMENT
87’ GOAL! Toronto 1-2 New England: Moments after Hasler’s equalizer, New England won a corner kick. Chris Tierney took it short and Lee Nguyen had all kinds of time and space to deliver a killer ball deep into the box for Kei Kamara who outjumped two TFC defenders to nod it home past Clint Irwin at the far post. It was a fine finish from Kamara, and a heads up play by Tierney who noticed the Reds were slow in setting themselves up to defend the corner.
TALKING POINT
Was Vanney right to start Irwin ahead of Bono?
Starting goalkeeper Alex Bono had a nightmare of a game in the midweek 5-3 loss at home to the Montreal Impact. He has been solid all season, and the expectation was that coach Greg Vanney would go back to Bono straight away on Saturday. But with only three games left in the season after this weekend, Vanney had to give backup Clint Irwin some reps in order to keep him sharp ahead of the playoffs. Saturday was only Irwin’s sixth start of the year, and first since July 22. Irwin didn’t look the least bit rusty, as he made three big saves at critical junctures in the match, and looked commanding in coming off of his line when needed. It was a poor result, but Irwin looked sharp. Vanney made the right call.
QUICK TAKE
The temptation is to look at TFC sitting atop the MLS standings and the Revs languishing in eighth place in the Eastern Conference as they fight for their playoff lives and conclude that this should have been an automatic win for Toronto – even more so when you consider New England fired their long-time coach Jay Heaps earlier in the week. But Gillette Stadium has been a fortress for the Revs this season. They’ve won 11 of their 15 games there (with just two losses), and 35 of their 38 points have been earned at home. Toronto was also coming off a short turnaround following the loss to Montreal on Wednesday and, historically, TFC have struggled for results in New England – they have just two wins in 15 visits to Gillette Stadium, scoring a meagre nine goals in those games.
STANDOUT STAT
Saturday marked the first time that Toronto FC lost back-to-back regular season games since March 20/April 2, 2016.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Lee Nguyen, New England: Talk about being super sub! Nguyen’s introduction in the 64th minute gave the Revs some fresh attacking legs, and his direct runs gave TFC’s defence plenty of headaches. He scored the opener in the 82nd minute and then helped to set up Kei Kamara’s winner with three minutes left in regulation. Honourable mention to Revolution defender Chris Tierney, who collected a pair of assists on the night.
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