Revolution v. Toronto FC, 7.14.12

The Revolution lost 1-0 at home to Toronto FC at Gillette stadium last night. The loss was deeply disappointing for at least a couple of reasons. First, New England lost ground in the tight race for the fifth playoff spot in the eastern conference. (Teams five through nine in the east are currently all within five points of each other.) Second, the Revolution positively deserved to lose at home to a Toronto team that had a 1-6-2 away record coming into yesterday’s game. Statistics show that New England dominated possession (65%) and had twice as many shots on goal (18 to Toronto’s 9). But those numbers don’t tell the story. New England’s shots on goal were weak, and Toronto’s chances—almost all off counters against a frequently disorganized Revolution defense—were the better ones.

Perhaps most importantly, and most painfully, the Revolution did not—at least from this viewer’s perspective—generate a sense at any time during the match that they were going to come back and tie (let alone win). New England did appear to score in the 83^rd minute off a corner kick, but replays showed (and the referee saw) that Shalrie Joseph’s equalizer had been played off the hand, not the head. (Joseph could’ve been sent off for the offense, but was given only a yellow.) The Revolution may have, in the immortal words of Bum Phillips, knocked at the door in this game, but they didn’t come remotely close to kicking the son of a bitch in. They looked limp, showing none of the edge and desire they exhibited in recent matches, not just last Saturday’s win against New York, but the exciting draws in Toronto and against Seattle at Gillette. New England’s flat home-field performance against Toronto, more than the loss itself, is most concerning for a team trying to gain respectability after a historically inept season.

The Revolution looked out of sorts from the outset of this game. Rookie midfielder Kelyn Rowe was unavailable due to a suspension, and starting center back Stephen McCarthy had to leave the game in the second minute with concussion-like symptoms after knocking heads with Toronto’s Ryan Johnson on an aerial challenge. Still, the Revolution are a mostly healthy team this year, and they should have been able to compensate for these losses. Joseph, who started on the bench and wasn’t expected to play, came on for McCarthy to play center back, and quality veteran Fernando Cardenas started in place of Rowe.

Cardenas looked impressive at times—he has a good first touch and almost never forces the ball or turns it over—but didn’t have significant impact on the game and was taken off after 73 minutes for Diego Fagundez. Unfortunately, Joseph was not well integrated with his back line mates, who repeatedly let Toronto attackers get behind them. Toronto easily could have scored on breakaways in the 14^th, 31^st, and 37^th minutes, but their strikers—Danny Koevermans and Johnson—failed to finish on those occasions. As good as Joseph is, he’s coming off an injury, and there is no substitute for continuity on a team’s back line. McCarthy’s absence was a reminder that, while the Revs have more depth this year than last at forward and midfield, they are notably shallow in the back.

Lee Nguyen had another impressive game for the Revolution. He is excellent standing over the ball and then blowing by defenders and creating space for shots or passes. Unfortunately, all his finishes against Toronto were well off target, including a rare dead-ball strike in the 90^th minute that he sent wide near post.

In lieu of embedding a highlight from this dismal match, here’s a good recent MLS highlight in case you haven’t seen it. I can’t remember seeing a soccer player get this much air when going up for a header.