By Jonathan Burgos –
The New England Revolution return home to host the Toronto FC in a Eastern Conference Showdown at Gillette Stadium. Its the first time since July 3 looking to snap a five-game losing streak. The Revolution are (6-7-8; 26 pts ) while Toronto FC (6-12-4; 22 pts ) in the MLS standings. The 23- year-old Albanian Forward Giacomo Vrioni is set to make his home debut at Gillette Stadium. New England finished the away stretch with a 0-0 draw in Columbus last Saturday, marking the club’s fourth clean sheet of the 2022 season. The Revolution lead the all-time series against Toronto FC, 14-10-11, including a 10-4-5 record at Gillette Stadium.
Kick-off is underway, with 10 min into the match the score is scoreless. It was a scoreless first half as the Revolution didn’t really have the chemistry on the offense side of the ball. On The Defensive side of the ball they’re really doing a good job stopping the opposition break. Multiple misreads, turnovers, cost New England to strike on the board first. Both Toronto and New England both had scoring chances but missed their opportunities. Goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic has 1 one save while Goalkeeper Alex Bano has 2 saves in the first half. The Revolution need to get on the same page if they want to come out with the win.
Second half has kicked off with Toronto kicking off. The first corner kick of the game goes to New England, #10 Captain Carles Gil takes the corner kick but is unsuccessful. New England makes their first substitution #9 Giacomo Vrioni comes in for #12 Justin Rennicks in the 55th minute making his home pitch debut. New England makes their second substitution with #11 Emmanuel Boateng coming in for #26 Thomas McNamara in the 68th minute. Toronto also makes a double substitution #29 Deandre Kerr & #20 Ayo Akinola come in for #9 Jesus Jimenez, & #10 Federico Bernardeschi in the 68th min. Petrovic makes a crucial save to keep the score scoreless. Toronto has a chance to take the lead in the late minutes, but Petrovic makes a huge save to keep the game scoreless. Revolution make there final double substitution #25 Arnor Traustason comes in for #17 Sebastian Lletget, & #5 Wilfrid Kaptoum comes off for #72 Damian Rivera in the 83rd minute. The Referee Ismir Pekmic No foul call would have given the Revolution a last min goal chance. As the final whistle blows it is a scoreless game, Petrovi gets another clean sheet. Tonight’s attendance was 29,97.
The Revolution extended their home undefeated streak to eight games with tonight’s result as they move to 3-0-5 at home since April 16.
A few takeaways from tonight’s match, first, New England’s defense recorded its fifth clean sheet of the 2022 campaign, and its second consecutive shutout. Second, Djordje Petrović made three saves tonight, including a penalty-kick denial on Lorenzo Insigne’s attempt in the 81st minute. The 23-year-old goalkeeper now has three shutouts and two penalty saves through his first nine MLS starts. Third, Tommy McNamara and Matt Polster each suited up for their 50th league start in a Revolution uniform tonight. Polster successfully completed 59 of 64 pass attempts with three shot attempts. Tonight’s fourth takeaway goes to Brandon Bye who guided the backline with a team-high six clearances, while adding eight successful crosses to his performance tonight.
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