New England Revolution to look for first points on the road tomorrow in Toronto

The New England Revolution will see action again tomorrow, when they travel to BMO Field to face Toronto FC. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

The two teams have already faced each other, on March 3, in the Revolution’s home opener in front of one of the biggest crowds in a season-opening game at Gillette Stadium (29,293 fans). But a superb goal from Italian international Lorenzo Insigne, in the 27th minute, gave the Canadian side the win in a game in which the Revolution had the better chances, but were denied by goalkeeper Sean Johnson’s fine performance.

Toronto FC shares eighth place with FC Montreal, with 10 points, but have lost their last three games, by a 10-3 margin.

On the other hand, the Revolution have only 4 points and have yet to gets points on the road, losing all three games by a combined 9-2 margin.

Thus, something will change - either the Revolution will finally be able to get a point in someone else’s ground or Toronto will end their streak of three consecutive losses.

New England Revolution lose again, 0-2, at New York City FC

A poor start to the game and an offense that remains extremely anemic doomed the New England New Revolution to another defeat, this time by a 2-0 score, against New York City FC in a game played on April 13 at Yankee Stadium.

The loss keeps the Revolution in bottom spot in the Eastern Conference, with just four points from seven games.

As has happened on several occasions this season, the Revolution did not start the game well, and the opening minutes were spent almost exclusively in the Revolution half of the field.

Predictably, the first threat came from the local side, in the fourth minute. Santiago Rodriguez took a corner kick, and former Benfica midfielder Keaton Parks burst in and fired just wide of the post.

The game then went through a bit of a rough stretch, with Matt Polster being struck in the face by an elbow that left him bleeding and with a bump on his forehead. Fortunately, after a two-minute stoppage, Polster was able to return to the match. And soon after, Giacomo Vtioni was struck in the chest by James Sands' raised foot.

By the 20-minute mark, the Revolution had yet to approach the opponent's goal and New York City FC enjoyed about 65 percent of the possession.

The situation got even worse for the visitors in the 23rd minute, when left defender DeJuan Jones fell to the ground, because of an apparent muscle injury. Ryan Spaulding took his place.

After the game, Coach Caleb Porter explained that Jones “had kind of a hamstring issue,” and was forced to “come out because of a muscle strain.”

Interestingly, from then on the Revolution began to grow into the game and showed signs of being able to hurt the opposing defense. In the 27th minute, Carles Gil took a corner on the right side and Polster flicked it towards the far post, but Birk Risa managed to clear with a header. However, the ball found its way to Tomás Chancalay, and his first-timed shot was on target, but sailed right to Matt Freese’s hands.

Soon after, Carles Gil, near the midfield line, intercepted a pass and served Chancalay, who cut to his right and then returned the ball to his captain. He fired a low screamer, but Freese dove and smothered the shot.

Seconds later, Chancalay received a good pass from Nacho Gil, rounded an opponent and, from an already tight angle, blasted a shot just over the cross bar.

The home team's response came in the 30th minute. Matt Polster did not move to meet a pass and allowed Mounsef Bakrar to steal the ball. His quick shot sailed a few inches over the bar.

The Revolution came very close to scoring in the 34th minute. Just as Giacomo Vrioni made a run down the left side, Carles Gil slid a perfect pass that sent him in clean. The Revolution forward fired in stride, but keeper Matt Freese dove to his left and palmed the ball over the end line.

In the 40th minute, referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere showed Ian Harks a red card after a hard tackle on Mitja Ilenic. But, after being called by VAR Carol Anne Chenard, the referee went to review the play and ruled that the tackle was not violent. As a result, he changed the red to yellow, and fortunately the Revolution were not forced to play shorthanded for the remainder of the game.

Just prior to intermission, on a quick counterattack, New York City FC also came very close to scoring. Agustin Ojeda played a through ball to Hannes Wolf, who was able to beat Dave Romney and cut towards the net, with the Revolution central defender in pursuit. Seeing this, Ravas came decisively off his line, to cut down the angle, and was able to knock the shot away.

Despite the bad start, the Revolution gradually grew into the game and created a number of decent chances, a reaction that pleased their coach.

“I felt like after the first 15 minutes, we started executing the way we wanted. We were in that mid-block, we were able to press and turn them over,” Revolution Head Coach Caleb Porter said in describing his team’s first half performance. “We had four really clear chances in those next 25 minutes or so to score. I think we were unfortunate to not get the goal. [Matt Freese] made a great save on Giacomo [Vrioni] off the near post. There were a couple others where maybe if we slide in at the right spot, then it’s an easy finish. But we executed well, and we got in great spots, we had good chances. We have to score the goal.”

Second half with goals... against the Revolution

Unfortunately, the Revolution failed to maintain the same level at the start of the second half and paid the price. In the 57th minute, the hosts turned in the only goal they would need. Keaton Parks started the play and Santiago Rodriguez’ cross found Hannes Wolff unmarked in the penalty area. Dave Romney dove to block the shot, but the rebound came to Agustin Ojeda, who was at the edge of the area, and he first timed a rocket that landed in the top corner, giving absolutely no chance for goalkeeper Henrich Ravas.

“I think, honestly, that [first] goal just kind of burst our bubble a little bit once they scored that goal,” Porter acknowledged during his post-game remarks.

The goal pumped up the crowd, so the hosts increased the pressure and came very close to doubling their lead soon after, but Ravas came through, first when he parried Keaton Parks' hard shot and then when he showed sharp reflexes to deny Ojeda's rebound.

Clearly disappointed with his side's performance, Caleb Porter made the first change in the 62nd minute, as Esmir Bajraktarevic came on for Nacho Gil.

New York City FC coach Nick Cushing responded with two substitutions of his own. Hannes Wolf and Agustin Ojeda were replaced by Júlian Fernandez and Malachi Jones.

The changes worked out better the home side, as they continued to have more of the ball and more dangerous approaches, forcing Ravas to make a great save in the 67th minute to deny Júlian Fernandez. And, one minute later Mounsef Bakrar found himself in a good position, but fired too high and missed the target.

At this point in the game, the goalkeeper was keeping the team in position to get something from the game, and Porter said after the game that Ravas “made a bunch of saves to keep us in it.”

In the 72nd minute, New York City FC squandered a golden opportunity to put the game away. Julian Fernandez served Keaton Parks, who had been unmarked on the left, The former Benfica midfielder dropped the ball back to Malachi Jones, who was alone at the edge of the small area but fired wide. Great chance.

Unexpectedly, the Revolution came very, very close to equalizing, in the 79th minute. Following a corner, the ball found its way to Ryan Spaulding, who was outside the box, and tried to fire from long range. The shot deflected off Birk Risa, changed direction and would have gone in just inside the far post. But Matt Freese, who first dove to his left, was able to recover and, off balance, with his fingertips deflected the ball over the end line.

The Revolution's best chance came 10 minutes later. Carles Gil sent a guided cross into the heart of the area and found Chancalay in stride. His powerful header was on target, but Freese made the save of the night by tipping the shot over the cross bar.

The hosts put the game away at 90+3 minutes. The play started with a long pass. Kevin O'Toole jumped with Henry Kessler and the ball deflected to Júlian Férnandez, who sprinted towards the net and then, just as he approached the area, fired a high, hard shot that screamed past Ravas.

“It’s another game where we lose. I’m disappointed. I thought it was there for the taking, this game,” Porter told the media after the game.

Time for reflection

In these first seven weeks, the Revolution have been the worst team in the Eastern Conference and in the entire league there is only one side with a worse record, the San Jose Earthquakes, who have only 3 points in eight games. The Revolution have the weakest offense, scoring only five goals, which would project to only 24 goals in the season. Last year, despite all the problems that occurred after then Head Coach Bruce Arena was placed on administrative leave amid allegations of ‘insensitive and inappropriate remarks’, the team still finished with 58 goals scored. Thus, something is clearly not right. Since the transfer window closes on the 23rd, might the Revolution be considering the possibility of signing additional players? Coach Caleb Porter left that possibility up in the air.

“If we’re happy with where we’re at, and we’re happy with the group we have, then something is wrong,” Porter responded after the game. “At the end of the day, we now have a snapshot, a seven-game snapshot. We don’t like what we see overall, and we don’t like where we’re at. Of course, I’m the coach so I’m a part of that as well.

“We have to continue to train, to prepare, to reflect, to look at all the mistakes we make, to make those corrections, and go again. So, the process won’t change. But yeah, we’re evaluating the roster, for sure. We’ve been evaluating it for the last three and a half months. There’s a lot of things that I think we need to look at and think about. I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight.”

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Revolution to look for first points on the road tomorrow in Toronto