TORONTO – With precious playoff points on the line, the New England Revolution absorbed a dangerous Toronto FC attack to come away from BMO Field with an important 3-1 win on Sunday.
The victory – New England’s fifth-straight and sixth in their seven-game unbeaten run – propelled the Revs further ahead of TFC in the Eastern Conference, with fourth-place New England now sitting six points ahead of Toronto.
TFC controlled large stretches of the match, but failed to convert many of their opportunities against the clinical Revs. Toronto nearly struck inside of two minutes when Robbie Findley headed a Sebastian Giovinco cross off the bar, with the forward’s follow-up effort requiring a touch from goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.
Come the fourth minute, however, it was the Revolution who would take the lead, when Jermaine Jones slipped a through ball to Teal Bunbury in the right side of the area. Bunbury attempted to find Charlie Davies with a square ball, prompting Damien Perquis to attempt an intervention. The tackle didn’t quite come off as planned – Perquis took a poor touch and knocked the ball into the net for an own goal.
Toronto went on to boss large passages of the first half, including a scintillating pair of runs on one play from Jozy Altidore and Giovinco, who dribbled through the legs of two New England defenders before sending in a cross that sailed over Marky Delgado at the back post.
New England doubled their advantage before halftime, adding a second goal in the 39th minute. Lee Nguyen started the play, exchanging a one-two with Bunbury on the right flank, receiving the return ball at the corner of the area. Nguyen quickly found Diego Fagundez at the top of the box, with the young midfielder sweetly placing a right-footer to the left of sprawling ‘keeper Chris Konopka.
Toronto came close to replying seconds into the second half, but Jose Goncalves was in place to clear Giovinco's chip away from the goal-line.
TFC cut into New England’s lead in the 55th minute, when Justin Morrow beat Jeremy Hall on the left and crossed to Findley, who headed past Shuttleworth to make it 2-1.
Toronto pressed on, but suffered a major set-back in the 71st minute. Michael Bradley was caught in possession at the top of his own box, pressured into a giveaway by Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe, who picked up the ball and firing into the bottom-left corner to restore the Revs’ two-goal cushion.
TFC nearly conceded again late in the match, with Konopka denying Fagundez on a 1-v-1 effort in the game’s dying moments.
Both teams will have a quick turnaround following Sunday’s match, each returning to action on Wednesday night. Toronto travels to New York to face New York City FC, while New England will head back home to host the other New York side, the Red Bulls.
