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 83rd 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 14th,
31st, and 37th 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 90th 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.
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