

Posted by

Ian Clarke ,

June 15, 2011 Email Ian Clarke

Toronto FC New England Revolution 0



Against one of the poorer sides in MLS, Toronto FC weren’t able to come away with their first road win of the season, however, they picked up a point and that could go a long way if they can make the most of their remaining home games. The Prelude to Battle

TFC came into Gillette Stadium with a bit of momentum having walked out of the Home Depot Centre with a thrilling last second goal that earned them a point in a 2-2 draw with the LA Galaxy. In that match the Reds unfortunately lost the services of Tony Tchani as well as Jacob Peterson, adding to the list of Julian De Guzman, Nana Attakora and Alen Stevanovic.



New England have found a way to match Toronto’s inconsistency and even take it a step further going four games in a row with a loss, and through the first half of the season manage to go over 600 minutes without a goal from open play. The Revolution were also missing veteran off-season additions Didier Domi and Ousmane Dabo.



The match on paper looked like a pick ‘em with New England likely holding a slight advantage given that in their four previous meetings, Toronto had lost three and managed a draw in 2009. For the Reds to come away with a result, they would need solid defending and a good effort in the middle of the park. The addition of Alan Gordon to the starting line up greatly improved their odds of finding the back of the net. The Opening Forty-Five

Save for a small handful of games, Toronto FC have had great difficulty coming into their matches prepared and focused right out of the gate. The opening twenty minutes have often been the barometer of what’s in store throughout the remaining ninety. On this night TFC looked ready to take it to their opponent from the get go.



An attack of Maicon Santos, Joao Plata, Nick Soolsma and Alan Gordon proved to be the right formula as prior to going down with an injury Gordon and Plata were beginning to form a strong partnership with one another. This would pick right up tonight as Gordon created two great chances early on, the best coming in the 14th minute. Laying off a Danleigh Borman long ball between two Revolution defenders at the top of the 18-yard box, a streaking Joao Plata would run onto the ball and strike it well from distance forcing keeper Matt Reis to extend for the save.



Only moments later in the 16th minute, youngster Doneil Henry continued the early pressure off a corner that saw him climb up and head the ball just over the goal. It was the second time in his last three appearances that Henry had been able to make a real impression off a corner kick, the first a last minute effort on June 4th against Kansas City.



The strong opening would continue for Toronto and although they were having trouble getting the final ball through to legitimately test Matt Reis, after the great opening twenty minutes they enjoyed more possession and fewer turnovers. New England, on the other hand, looked atrocious moving forward and aside from Shalrie Joseph who continues to be the class of their side, had countless cheap turnovers and could not string together much to cause concern for Stefan Frei.



Despite this, the Revolution were able to pile up the corner kicks but the defence and Frei were up for the challenge and nothing came of the chances.



The first half would end with TFC in the driver’s seat and looking extremely confident. Alan Gordon nearly headed a corner in at the 35th minute and it looked as though New England were out to show how far they’ve fallen over the last few years that at one point had them perennial MLS Cup contenders. Zak Boggs especially looked poor as he was completely out of sync with his teammates and could not link up and provide anything worthwhile moving forward. Gordon was hurt from the first half ... if anyone should have been subbed it should have been him to save him for the long season!

- @TorontoFCasn The Second Half

With Boggs poor performance in mind, Steve Nichol made a substitution for a player that many TFC supporters will recall from the 2010 fixture that saw Sainey Nyassi have his way with Raivis Hscanovics and provide the sparkplug for the Revolution offence.



The change immediately paid off as his speed down the wing would add another dimension to their attack and in the 49th minute striker Rajko Lekic laid off a perfect ball to Shalrie Joseph just on top of the 18 yard box sending a howitzer straight at Stefan Frei who was able to block the shot and pounce on the rebound.



It was not until the 55th minute that the balance began to shift as head coach Aron Winter would substitute Maicon Santos for Oscar Cordon. In the telecast, colour commentator and former Revolution striker Taylor Twellman would question this move noting that in a game where your side is controlling the majority of play and chances in the attack why would you take out your leading scorer? Perhaps he was looking ahead to Saturday’s match with Seattle, Winter’s substitution did have an effect in the run of play but in a negative way as New England found a way back into the match after this point.



The game became much more evenly contested after Santos went out as there was end to end action with New England starting to gain more and more momentum. Nyassi would be battling with Danliegh Borman who did well to not repeat Hscanovic’s performance and for the most part keep the dangerous Gambian in check.



However the twenty minute period after Santos’s removal from the game saw a major shift in the run of play highlighted in the 70th minute when Kenny Mansally got the space on the left side to thread a ball through the box that was just out of reach of Rajko Lekic who could have had an easy tap in had he been able to close in on the pass.



Toronto would hang in right down to the wire and even though it appeared they were going to follow in the Canadian Men’s National Team capitulation in extra time they maintained their shape as New England poured it on.



Second half substitute Gianluca Zavarise would get two yellow cards in the span of four minutes and with minutes remaining New England would keep piling on the pressure through corner kicks that at the final whistle would total fourteen. Through the last gasp, TFC kept composed and another Shalrie Joseph long range blast would just go over the goal signaling the last real chance of the match.



The Final Word: Despite a point, another missed opportunity

Throughout the telecast, Taylor Twellman would note how important it was at the very least for Toronto to come away with a vital away point. Looking at the two most recent away fixtures at first glance, two points looks like a good enough haul as both most likely could have been losses.



However, looking much closer at TFC’s last three opponents, specifically Kansas City and tonight New England, a case can be made that they could be sitting on at least six points had they been able to finish their chances.



Save for the return fixture, Toronto might not see another opponent this season who are as vulnerable and in such a bad run of form. It cannot be understated how poor this New England team is and aside from Shalrie Joseph, are sorely lacking any real quality throughout their line-up.



That being said, overall, the team put in a good performance and back to back decent outings is something supporters have not seen so far this season. The defence held up as Doneil Henry put in a strong display alongside Richard Eckersley. Stefan Frei was on point throughout the game and made the right decisions on the plethora of corners as well as stayed focused on the handful of long range efforts on goal.



What appears to be missing in a game like this is one more legitimate threat in the attack who has the quality to make an impact or at the very least draw enough attention to release either Alan Gordon, Joao Plata or Maicon Santos.



Toronto will now face the Seattle Sounders Saturday night and may have the services of Julian De Guzman who is coming back from the Gold Cup and Alen Stevanovic who is returning from injury.



TFC Line-up

24 Frei

27 Eckersley

20 Harden

28 Henry

25 Borman

19 Yourassowsky

11 Sturgis

29 Santos

7 Plata

18 Soolsma

21 Gordon



Substitutions: (55') Cordon for Santos (66') Zavarise for Soolsma (72') Martina in for Plata.