New England Soccer Today

Revs Downed in Toronto

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

Drew Moor scored early and Sebastian Giovinco tallied late to send the Revolution to their second straight defeat in Friday’s 2-0 loss to Toronto FC at BMO Field in Toronto.

Moor put the hosts up inside of 11 minutes when he tapped through a pass from Armando Cooper that was redirected in front of frame by Tsubasa Endoh. Giovinco ended any hopes of a Revolution comeback in stoppage time when he chased down a Victor Vasquez ball and with only Benjamin Angoua to beat, sent his shot out of the reach of Cody Cropper.

With the loss, the Revolution stayed on 20 points with a 5-7-5 record. Toronto, who fell to the Revolution in Foxboro on Jun. 3, improved to 35 points on a 10-2-5 mark.

Revolution coach Jay Heaps reconfigured his backline for Friday’s match, as fullback Andrew Farrell earned his first career start at left back while London Woodberry got the nod on the right.

Meanwhile, midfielder Scott Caldwell was unavailable for Friday, allowing Je-Vaughn Watson a rare start in the central midfield partnered alongside Gershon Koffie.

The changes didn’t seem to help the Revolution in the early going as the Reds exploited mix-and-match defense. Not long after the 10 minute mark, Cooper fired a ball into the heart of the box, where Endoh altered the path of the pass toward Moor, who pushed it through on the doorstep.

Toronto nearly widened the gap in the 56th minute when Giovinco blasted free kick too far out of the reach of Cody Cropper. But Lee Nguyen dropped back and flicked the shot off the line to keep it a one-goal margin near the hour mark.

But the Revolution weren’t about down to go down so easily.

Substitute Kei Kamara turned and fired a low drive that skipped wide of the post in the 82nd minute. Another substitute nearly broke through when Teal Bunbury flashed a header on frame that forced a quick save from Alex Bono in the 88th minute.

New England was given six minutes of stoppage time to uncover the equalizer, but it was Toronto who made the most of the extra minutes as Giovinco outmaneuvered Benjamin Angoua and fired it past Cropper to seal the victory.

The Revolution return to action on Wednesday for U.S. Open Cup action against DC United at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Kickoff for the round of 16 clash is 7:30pm. New England will resume league play on Sunday, Jul. 2 at Philadelphia.

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