Recap: New England Revolution 2 - Toronto FC 1

The New England Revolution made their first trek north of the border since May of 2019 as they traveled to BMO Field in Toronto as they faced off against Toronto FC.

The red-hot Revolution came into Saturday’s match on a six-game win streak. The Revs looked to pick up back-to-back wins after picking up a 2-1 win over Philadelphia Union at home. The last Revs loss came back on July 7th when they suffered a 3-2 defeat to Saturday’s opponent, Toronto FC.

Toronto FC came into Saturday’s match winless in their last three matches, which saw a 1-1 draw with Nashville, a 3-0 loss to Philadelphia, and most recently, a 2-2 draw with NYCFC.

One change to the starting XI from last Sunday’s match against Philly. Arnór Traustason returned to the starting XI as Tommy McNamara went to the bench.

One notable addition to the Revolution’s bench for Saturday’s match was Revolution homegrown Damian Rivera. Rivera has spent most of the 2021 campaign with Revolution II, where he leads the club with four goals in fourteen appearances.

The Revs would most noticeably be without MVP-candidate midfielder Carles Gil remains out with a sports hernia injury according to Seth Macomber of The Bent Musket.

Toronto looked to get the ball rolling in the 5^th minute as a cross was sent goalward. Matt Turner, the Gold Cup’s Best Goalkeeper award winner, would wisely come off his line and catch the ball inside the box before any TFC attacker could get onto it.

Tajon Buchanan looked to get the Revs offense going in the 5^th minute as he sent a low cross into Toronto’s box. A TFC defender would promptly clear the ball out for a Revs corner kick before anyone could capitalize.

Traustason would deliver a beautiful corner kick in the 6^th minute as it found a cluster of white jerseys. An alert TFC defense would quickly clear the ball out of their box.

DeJuan Jones would come up big for the Revs defense in the 16th minute as he cleared Yeferson Soteldo’s cross in the box.

Buchanan would score his 4th goal of the year after finding his way onto a beautiful cross from DeJuan Jones. Buchanan’s header would beat Alex Bono to the net, where it would bounce off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net.

Marky Delgado looked to find the equalizer in the 27^th minute as his pass rolled inside the 6-yard-box towards two unmarked TFC attackers. Miraculously, neither attacker would get on top of the ball as it would roll out for a Revs goal kick.

It wasn’t the prettiest half for the Revolution, but walking into the locker room at halftime up 1-0 was a good sign. The Revs are 7-0-1 in 2021 when leading at halftime.

There was a scary sight for Buchanan in the 47th minute as a darting Delgado would step on Buchanan’s foot when attempting to play the ball. Buchanan would go down in obvious distress but was able to get up and continue.

Revs fans were glad to see Buchanan was able to continue, but that could have been worse for the young Canadian midfielder. Delgado would receive a yellow card for his foul on Buchanan.

There was another scary scene in the 52nd minute as midfielder Matt Polster would go down with an apparent lower-body injury after jumping for a ball. Polster was in clear distress after the apparent injury.

After being tended to by Revs medical staff and consoled by teammates, Polster was able to get up on his own accord and slowly made his way off the pitch. McNamara would come on to replace the injured Polster in the 53rd minute.

Brandon Bye would receive a yellow card in the 62^nd minute after fouling Soteldo.

Gustavo Bou looked to find the go-ahead goal in the 67th minute after finding Adam Buksa’s flick into space. Bou would find himself one-on-one with Bono. Bou sent the ball towards the right side of the net, where it deflected off Bono and out to the right side of the box. Bou would get on to the deflected ball and sent a shot to the left side of the net. The ball would be easily stopped near the goal line by a TFC defender.

Teal Bunbury would come on for Traustason in the 76^th minute.

Andrew Farrell would come in clutch for the Revolution defense in the 77^th minute as a sliding clearance would dispossess Toronto inside the box before they could put up a shot. Farrell also did a good job in timing and location as he avoided contacting the attacker and prevented a possible penalty kick opportunity for Toronto.

Jonathan Osorio would equalize the game for Toronto in the 79^th minute after finding his way on the end of Pozuelo’s pass into the box and flicking it past Turner.

Luck came the Revolution’s way in the 82^nd minute as the Revs were awarded a penalty kick after Eriq Zavaleta would foul Buksa inside the box. Bou would be the one to step up to the spot as he looked to give the Revolution a late lead. Bou would send the penalty kick towards the upper left corner of the net. Bono would dive in the right direction but was too low to get a hand on the ball as it soared into the back of the net.

Bou’s 83rd-minute goal would propel him first place in the Golden Boot race with 12 goals on the year. One more than second and third-placed Raul Ruídiaz and Dániel Sallói.

Up 2-1 in the closing moments of the match, the Revs had to lock in if they wanted to leave BMO Field with the full three points. A double substation would come in the 88^th minute as AJ DeLaGarza and Wilfried Kaptoum would come on for Buchanan and Maciel.

7 minutes were added to the end of the second half. Toronto looked to get back into it on multiple occasions in stoppage time, but Turner had other plans as he made multiple saves in the closing moments of the match. Turner would have three saves on the night.

As the final whistle sounded, the Revs held on as they secured a 2-1 win on the road against Toronto FC. Saturday’s win widens the gap between second-placed NYCFC to 12 points. The Revs also widen their lead in the supporter shield race to 6 points.

The Revolution return to action on Wednesday, August 18th, as they host D.C. United at 7:00 PM EST.