Keep On Streaking On
- Updated: September 13, 2015
Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com
Despite an offensive onslaught by Sebastian Giovinco and Toronto FC, the Revolution took all three points from their Eastern Conference foe on Sunday night with a 3-1 victory at BMO Field in Toronto.
Diego Fagundez and Kelyn Rowe scored and Lee Nguyen added two assists to lead the Revolution–who also benefited from an own goal–to victory. Robbie Findley also scored in the match, but it would be the only goal the home side would be able to put past Bobby Shuttleworth.
The game started with fireworks as Lee Nguyen had a near-goal in the first minute, when he fired a shot from the center of the box just wide of the net. Robbie Findley less than a minute later hit the crossbar from a header, and both teams seemed to start with an open style of play with shaky defense. It took only until the fourth minute to open the scoring when Teal Bunbury sent a low cross into the box and Toronto defender Damien Parquis accidentally deflected the ball in to score a goal for the Revolution.
After the goal, Toronto FC gained control of the game and held the majority of possession throughout the first half, but was unable to score. The Revolution prevented shots from inside the box, but were forced to foul Sebastian Giovinco multiple times, leading to some promising free kicks which luckily did not come back to haunt them.
The Revolution made the most of an opportunity in the 39th minute when Nguyen and Bunbury connected back and forth on the right side before Nguyen centered the ball for Diego Fagundez, who scored on the Revolution’s first shot on target in the game. The 2-0 score would hold until halftime.
Toronto FC finally broke through when Justin Morrow centered a cross from the left side and found Robbie Findley whose header bounced off the inside of the post and went in. The goal cut the lead to 2-1 and added momentum to an already strong and dangerous Toronto FC side, who seemed likely to score again.
However, in the 71st minute, Michael Bradley made a costly error where he collected a loose ball in the Toronto FC box and held the ball for too long without clearing. Lee Nguyen hassled Bradley, jarring the ball loose to Kelyn Rowe, who turned and shot quickly, and ended up beating the keeper to increase the lead to 3-1. Despite the score, it was only the Revolution’s second shot on target, and at that point, they were being outshot 19-4 by Toronto FC.
After Rowe’s goal, Toronto FC never seemed to gain momentum or confidence and both teams had a number of chances, but the 3-1 score would hold through full time. The Revolution (12-9-7, 43 points) take a key three points and continue their unbeaten run to seven games, of which six were victories, moving to within two points of first in the East. However, one streak was broken, as Findley’s goal broke Bobby Shuttleworth’s shutout streak at 340 minutes.
The Revolution will now return back to Foxboro for a key mid-week match against the first place New York Red Bulls with a chance to move into first. The Revolution will be without midfielder Jermaine Jones, as he will be suspended due to yellow card accumulation after being given a caution in the first half against Toronto. Kickoff for the Wednesday match against New York will be at 7:30 pm.
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