Dor Turgeman helped spark the New England Revolution's comeback against Columbus Crew SC, scoring the equalizer before drawing a penalty in the 2-1 win.
The Crew held a 1-0 advantage at halftime after Max Arfsten finished a pass from Diego Rossi.
An inspiring halftime chat prompted a better second 45 by the home side, who broke through when Turgeman nodded in Luca Langoni's set-piece service in the 54th minute.
The Israeli striker celebrated with a brief meditation before running over to hug head coach Marko Mitrovic.
“I don’t think he ran [over] on purpose, I think maybe I ran to him," Mitrovic said with a smile.
Turgeman helped create the game-winner as he was pulled down by Rudy Camacho to earn a penalty. Carles Gil stepped up to score his 50th MLS goal, securing full points for the Revs.
Mitrovic has offered plenty of praise for Turgeman, noting his high potential. He views it as his job to get the most out of the 22-year-old.
"Dor is a pure finisher," Mitrovic said. "He has exceptional quality in the box and he just has to connect with the ball.
"But Dor also has other qualities, he is not just a box forward. He can do many more things. We work on those things, and sometimes those certain things for Dor are very simple, but because they are simple, that doesn’t mean you don’t execute those simple things in simple ways."
Last year, Turgeman had three goals in three games in a two-striker setup. This year, he's primarily played alone up top.
This is something that he can certainly do, though it's taken time to adjust to the new system and coach. His teammates complement his dedication.
“He is top and he works so, so hard," Ethan Kohler said. "Above all, he has all this quality. But the reason why he draws the penalty, the reason why he's always in the right places, is because he's a guy who's willing to work hard, not only for himself, but for the group. That’s why he continues to produce for us week in and week out.”
With ten different goal scorers through seven games, the Revolution has one of the most varied attacks in MLS. Turgeman now has two, putting him even with Peyton Miller, Alhassan Yusuf, and Brayan Ceballos.
The expectation is that Turgeman will continue to be a central cog for the Revolution, who are now fifth in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.
"I said in preseason that he has high potential, he has a high ceiling," Mitrovic said. "Our job is on one side, is to use Dor like I said to help the team to achieve results, but we also have an obligation to help Dor to become the best version of himself.”
