The New England Revolution were home this weekend as Toronto FC came south of the border. New England were able to extend their unbeaten streak to 9 games. Five wins and four ties. You would think the players and fans would be happy, but they are not.   Last week versus Orlando, New England blew a late 2-0 lead and had to settle for a 2-2 tie. Orlando has struggled this season. Despite having world star Kaka in their lineup, Orlando had suffered back to back shut out losses. So even though the Revs didn’t lose all 3 points, last weeks tie sure felt like a loss.

Toronto is also struggling for positive results. Toronto has had a tough start with their long road schedule so early. Their first 7 games were all on the road as their home venue is under renovations, as road games are always tough. Toronto also has some really good talent like USA internationals Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, and Italian international Sebastian Giovinco. But despite that Toronto only has 3 wins in their first 8 games. Despite extending their unbeaten streak to 9 games with a 1-1 tie, no one in the Revs is really celebrating that. This was a game New England could of and should of won. When you drop 4 points in two games against teams with sub .500 records, not good.

Don’t get confused, I’m happy the Revs didn’t lose.

“We’re disappointed with the final result. We thought we had enough and did enough to get through, but you credit a good team, their keeper made some good saves. I think we could of done better to get another goal before the half, and than there was about 10 minutes when we were not good enough to start the 2nd half. After that I thought we assumed controlled again and had chances to win.” Manager Jay Heaps after the game

The first half was mostly controlled by the Revs. They had majority possession, 58%, more shots attempted and more shots on target. They also had the 1-0 lead at halftime, thanks to a great Juan Agudelo header, assisted by right back London Woodberry. Even though Lee Nguyen and Teal Bunbury didn’t get credit on the assist, they were involved in the goal. The trio had formed a triangle deep in Toronto’s corner, with Teal attracting the attention of two Toronto players, and when Teal passed to Lee, Teal made a run for the Toronto penalty area, and when Lee received the pass, London made a slight run up to where Teal was, maintaining that triangular shape, and crossed the ball into the Toronto 6 yard line where Juan heads the ball down into the corner away from the goalie.

The start of the 2nd half was mostly dominated by Toronto. In the 52 minute, Toronto’s Michael Bradley made a long run with the ball, beating 3 Revs players, and shooting the ball under Bobby’s right hand. “credit the goal, it was a great touch, got it to go his way and the finish was good, but we had chances to eliminate his chances but we didn’t”, said Jay Heaps after the game. Three Revs players and not one was able to stop him, or at least foul him. You hear about professional fouls to stop the attack, this would of been a good moment for that. They could of lost this game. Minutes after Toronto’s Michael Bradley tied the game, Toronto had a goal called back, when Luke Moore was in a offside position as Michael Bradley made his initial shot that Bobby Shuttleworth saved. The last 10 minutes New England had some chances to take the lead, but some shots were saved like in the 85th minute save on Andy Dorman, and some shots wide like a Lee Nguyen shot 86th minute wide left, or a 92nd minute Diego header.