The New England Revolution have put together a decent half of soccer, and they lead Toronto FC 1-0 going into the break. Diego Fagundez continued his incredible run of form with an excellent 23rd-minute strike that marks the only time so far in 2013 that a Revolution player has scored a first-half goal.
Both teams came out somewhat flat in the early going, their standard of play no doubt affected by the chilly and damp conditions in Foxboro. Passing was slightly sloppy, but it was Toronto who ended up with the first shot of the game when Robert Earnshaw turned at the top of the box in the 13th. He had been well-covered, though, and Stephen McCarthy got a foot out to block the shot.
McCarthy then nearly gifted the Reds a goal two minutes later with a giveaway just outside the box. Jeremy Brockie sprinted in on goal, but Bobby Shuttleworth was off his line in a flash, taking the shot point-blank and snuffing the chance.
The Revolution's first real chance came in the 20th minute. Juan Toja pinged a long cross-field pass to Fagundez deep in the box. Diego cut back and dribbled before laying off to Lee Nguyen, whose first-time cross found the head of Juan Agudelo at the far post, but his header on frame was caught easily.
Then Diego took over. Chris Tierney got the ball wide on the left in space and hit in a high far-post cross. It dropped in for an onrushing Fagundez in the right side of the box near the six, and the winger ripped a first-time volley into the ground that skidded inside the far post and in for an excellent goal.
Diego nearly scored again in the 44th when he beat two defenders on the dribble to get into the box before having a shot himself, but it was blocked despite looking to be on-target.
The Revs have by far been the dominant team in the half, controlling 63.9% of the possession and completing 81.6% of their passes, of which they attempted 272 (good for 121 more than TFC). The shots numbers look fairly even (5 for TFC, 6 for the Revs), but New England is the ascendant side.