New England Revolution 2 - Toronto FC 1: 3 Thoughts
Fortress Foxboro stood strong on Saturday night
The New England Revolution continued cooking up wins at home as they defeated Toronto FC. With the win over Toronto, New England is unbeaten in their first 10 home matches of the 2023 season.
With DeJuan Jones on international duty, recently recalled Ryan Spaulding replaced him in the starting XI. Djordje Petrovic also returned to the lineup after missing out on last week’s match due to international duty.
Outside of that, the lineup looked relatively similar to what Revolution fans have seen as of late. Bobby Wood and Gustavo Bou were the striker pairing up top while Ema Boateng, Matt Polster, Latif Blessing, and Carles Gil made up the midfield.
With the start, Polster made his 100th appearance across all competitions for New England since being acquired by the club in July of 2020 as well as his 150th MLS start.
But what do you need to know about the victory over Toronto? Here are three thoughts.
1 - Bobby Wood still is good
Every time Wood scores you wonder if this is the precipice. Surely he can’t maintain this level of play for an entire season? Well, so far Wood has shown he is one of the best pickups of the MLS offseason.
The 30-year-old blasted a shot past Greg Ranjitsingh to tie up the score. It is Wood’s seventh goal of the season which draws him even with Carles Gil for the club’s golden boot race.
Wood later added an assist on Giacomo Vrioni’s game-winning goal. It was the third time this season that he tallied a goal and a helper in the same game which is the most in MLS.
At this point of the season, Wood’s name should be written in pen in the starting XI. No matter if he is a lone striker or in a partnership.
I can’t say that I saw Wood playing such a major role in the Rev’s attack but he has exceeded all expectations and been a crucial part of New England’s success in 2023.
2 - Big goal for Vrioni
Giacomo Vrioni came on at half for Bou and it didn’t take long for the 24-year-old striker to find the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
Vrioni made a great run and a mishit ball from Wood was able to find his feet. With pressure around him, the striker didn’t falter and slid a shot into the net.
With the 24-year-old struggling to get playing time as well as find his footing in MLS, the goal was a big one. It will hopefully serve as a confidence booster and could see him get more minutes or even a start against FC Cincinnati.
Bruce Arena has a stacked striker room with Wood, Bou, and Vrioni, but the only way for the 24-year-old to build off his 45-minute performance is to continue to receive a steady diet of playing time.
3 - Slow starts
Once again New England struggled to start a match and it nearly cost them against Toronto.
Early on a defensive blunder saw Toronto go up 1-0. Dave Romney failed to clear a Cristian Guiterrez cross and it found Deandre Kerr who lept over Spaulding and gave The Reds an early lead.
For the next 10 minutes following the goal, Toronto continued to put on the pressure and New England continued to struggle. Luckily it didn’t cost New England on Saturday, but against better teams than Toronto it will.
With a matchup against FC Cincy on the horizon, New England will have to play a complete 90 minutes if they want to beat one of the best teams in MLS this season.
Romney was the unsung hero once again. Signing of the year.