Revolution Take Down Toronto FC Convincingly North of the Border

Carles Gil scored his fifth goal of the season, Leonardo Campana bagged his second.

Photo by J. Alexander Dolan

The New England Revolution defeated Toronto FC 2-0, North of the border, Saturday afternoon at BMO Field.

New England entered the day riding a three-match winning streak, each win with the same starting XI and 3-5-2 formation (Ivacic; Ceballos, Fofana, Beason, Feingold, Yusuf, Gil, Polster, Miller, Ganago, Campana).

It was a third match in the last seven days for Toronto, having lost to CF Montreal in penalty kicks on Wednesday in the Canadian Championship. The Reds rotated seven players while battling a laundry list of injuries (Johnson; Petretta, Gomis, Rosted, Thompson, Coello, Longstaff, Flores, Corbeanu, Brynhildsen, Bernardeschi).

Both teams desperately needed a result, New England to get above the playoff line, and Toronto, which has just one win in MLS this season, to get back in contention.

The Revolution broke the deadlock early. After a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes, the captain, Carles Gil, kept his red-hot form, finding the back of the net following a deflected cross. Ilay Feingold whipped the ball in from the right flank, which was flicked on by a TFC defender, setting Gil up for an impressive side-footed finish into the top corner on the volley. The goal marked Gil’s fifth of the season.

Toronto responded with a burst of energy after going behind, creating a chance of their own just minutes later via a corner kick. The Revolution number nine turned defender on the play, as Campana made the headed goal line clearance to keep New England ahead.

Just minutes later, Campana went from last defender to final attacker and notched a second Revs goal. Alhassan Yusuf picked the ball up in the midfield and found Campana making a forward run down the right channel. The Ecuadorian took two touches and buried a beautiful finish just inside the far post from a fairly difficult angle, doubling the lead.

The game was wide open for much of the first half, with both teams creating numerous chances. At the end of the first half, Sean Johnson made two fantastic stops in the TFC net on close-range efforts from Ignatius Ganago and Gil. Johnson then came up with another unbelievable stop in first-half stoppage time to deny Ganago a second time.

The game tightened up a bit in the second half, as the Revolution took fewer chances going forward. Toronto had the majority of the ball, but failed to create many clear-cut opportunities in front of the net.

New England had a few chances to add a third, but none bigger than in the 80th minute. Campana crossed in a ball from the left wing, and Gil left a nifty one-touch pass for Feingold, who was again stonewalled by Johnson from about eight yards out.

Gil’s goal was his 49th in a Revolution uniform. He is now just one shy of becoming the fifth New England player to reach 50 goals for the club. Campana’s tally was his second in three matches.

Next up for New England is a first-ever meeting with Rhode Island FC of the USL Championship in the U.S. Open Cup. That match will kick off on Wednesday at 7:30 at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.