In their final group match of the “MLS Is Back” Tournament, the New England Revolution would face off against familiar foe Toronto FC. Both teams enter today’s match with 4 points, Toronto ahead of the Revolution by the “goals scored” tie breaker. An interesting starting XI for the Revolution, as designated player Gustavo Bou started this one on the bench.
The first half of the match saw the Revolution playing as if they were a man down. For forty-five minutes, it seemed as if the Revs were just trying to weather the storm. Chance after chance was created by the opposition. Toronto did an excellent job early on at keeping the ball and holding possession for a majority of the half. Neither team was able to break through in the first forty-five minutes.
At the half time break, Toronto would lead in shots 7-3 while holding 67% of possession.
The Revolution came out of the break as if a new team. Suddenly the Revs had life. Good stints of possession with quality passing, led to four quick chances for them within the first 5 minutes of the second half. The Revs would keep applying pressure, earning a number of corner kicks in a row. However, both goalkeepers put on a great display this morning. Alex Bono of Toronto, stood tall, making big saves on Revolution forwards Adam Buksa and Diego Fagundez on what seemed like shure goals.
A big notable from today’s match was the Rookie defender Henry Kessler and him shutting down opposing forward Ayo Akinola who in the previous two games had a combined 5 goals. Kessler’s efforts were backed by goalkeeper Matt Turner, who would make a game saving stop on an Akinola breakaway in the seventy-ninth minute.
Today was another match where VAR was controversial. In the 81st minute, Revolution substitute Gustavo Bou was taken down in the box. No penalty was called, and the referee decided not to look at the video review. Six minutes later Toronto was awarded a penalty shot, but after video review it was determined to have occurred outside of the box. Only moments after this, Toronto would argue for what seemed to have been a blatant hand by inside the Revolution box. Once again the head official decided to not go to video review, dismissing the claims for the penalty.
The match would end in a hard fought 0-0 draw. Toronto finishes at the top of the group with the Revolution in second place. Both teams have earned berth into the knockout rounds. They stay first and second respectively after Montreal’s defeat of DC United on Tuesday night.
