TORONTO – The New England Revolution surged into first place in the Eastern Conference this afternoon behind a 2-1 win on the road against Toronto FC. The win extended the Revs’ current unbeaten run to four games and also was the team’s first-ever victory at BMO Field.
After Toronto (3-4-0, 9 pts.) went ahead in the sixth minute, Revs rookie Patrick Mullins scored his first professional goal in the 24th minute, connecting on a laser from 20 yards out. After the teams came out of the break and played a back-and-forth, entertaining second half, Lee Nguyen converted his third penalty kick in as many games in the 82nd minute to put New England (4-3-2, 14 pts.) ahead for good.
In the Eastern Conference standings, New England is two points ahead of second-place Columbus (12 pts.), who travels to third-place Kansas City (11 pts.) tomorrow.
Key Plays
3’ – TFC’s Jermain Defoe intercepts a Revs backpass and breaks in with Gilberto for a two-on-one. NE defender A.J. Soares disrupts Gilberto enough to allow GK Bobby Shuttleworth the opportunity to smother the ball | WATCH THE PLAY
5’ – TFC’s Gilberto sees his angled shot miss at the far post after Jonathan Osorio laid the ball off from a Jermain Defoe through ball at the top of the box | WATCH THE PLAY
6’ TFC GOAL: Jackson shoots from distance and his shot deflects off defender A.J. Soares and past Bobby Shuttleworth inside the near post | WATCH THE PLAY … TFC 1, NE 0
24’ NE GOAL: Rookie Patrick Mullins blasts a left-footed 20-yard shot past TFC keeper – and Brazil national team starting goalkeeper – Julio Cesar after Daigo Kobayashi picks off a TFC defender’s pass and sends Mullins in | WATCH THE PLAY … NE 1, TFC 1
28’ – NE’s Patrick Mullins almost strikes again as he picks up the rebound of Lee Nguyen’s blocked shot in traffic, but his attempt is wide right of goal | WATCH THE PLAY
28’ – TFC’s Gilberto finds Jermain Defoe at the top of the box with a pass, and then he puts a pass in the stride of Jackson coming down the right wing, but Bobby Shuttleworth comes out to smother the chance and then clear before Michael Bradley can get to the loose ball | WATCH THE PLAY
30’ – TFC’s Gilberto is left alone on the left side, but his shot kisses off the far post |WATCH THE PLAY
36’- NE’s Kevin Alston is forced out of the game with an left hamstring injury, suffered on an attack down the field and after getting a cross off deep on the left wing. He was replaced by Chris Tierney at left back
39’ – NE’s Teal Bunbury’s re-direction is smothered at close-range by TFC GK Julio Cesar after Lee Nguyen lofted a pass into the area for the charging Bunbury | WATCH THE PLAY
43’ – YELLOW CARD: TFC’s Jackson shown a yellow card for a high boot that hits Chris Tierney in the neck | WATCH THE PLAY
HALFTIME: New England Revolution 1, Toronto FC 1
54’ – NE’s Lee Nguyen takes a long, 25-yard right-footed shot off a free kick, but it’s inches wide left of Julio Cesar’s goal
58’ – YELLOW CARD: TFC’s Michael Bradley shown a yellow card after pulling down Lee Nguyen in the midfield | WATCH THE PLAY
67’ – NE’s Teal Bunbury tries to curl a shot inside the near post from near the edge of the box, but TFC keeper Julio Cesar handles it with ease | WATCH THE PLAY
75’ – YELLOW CARD: NE’s Diego Fagundez shown a yellow card for a tactical foul at midfield | WATCH THE PLAY
82’ – PENALTY KICK AWARDED: New England is awarded a penalty kick after Doneil Henry handles Patrick Mullins’ shot | WATCH THE PLAY
82’ – NE GOAL: Lee Nguyen converts his penalty kick attempt, slotting his shot past Julio Cesar to the upper right corner | WATCH THE PLAY … NE 2, TFC1
86’ – Bobby Shuttleworth makes a save off a Doneil Henry header, picking up the rebound off the post | WATCH THE PLAY
88’ – NE’s Teal Bunbury gets a one-on-one chance against TFC GK Julio Cesar after making a great turn on his defender when picking up Lee Nguyen’s threaded pass, but his shot is mis-hit and goes high | WATCH THE PLAY
89’ – TFC’s Jermain Defoe creates space in traffic and lets a curled shot go, but his shot is narrowly wide of Bobby Shuttleworth’s goal | WATCH THE PLAY
92’ – YELLOW CARD: NE’s Scott Caldwell shown a yellow card for time wasting in stoppage time before the Revs restart with a free kick | WATCH THE PLAY
FINAL SCORE: New England Revolution 2, Toronto FC 1
Additional Game Notes
- The Revolution is now 6-4-7 all-time against Toronto FC
- The win was the Revs’ first ever victory at BMO Field … the team is now 1-2-5 in eight matches in Toronto
- The Revolution is now 4-3-2 on the season
- The team is in the midst of a four-game unbeaten run, going 3-0-1 in the last four games
- Since losing the first two games of the season, the Revolution has gone 4-1-2 in the last seven matches – averaging 2.00 points per game in that span
- Rookie Patrick Mullins scored his first career goal with his 24th-minute goal
- Daigo Kobayashi recorded his team-leading second assist when he sent Mullins in on goal
- Lee Nguyen has now scored a team-best four goals … three of those have come from the penalty spot
- Lee Nguyen’s goal was his team-best second game-winning goal this season
- The Revolution – and Lee Nguyen – have converted all three penalty kicks awarded this season
- Nguyen is now 3-for-3 this season and is six-for-seven in his Revolution career … he now has sole possession of fourth place on the Revolution career PK chart
- Bobby Shuttleworth recorded two saves in his fourth win this season and the 17th of his career
- Jay Heaps made two changes to the lineup that posted a 2-0 win over Sporting Kansas City last weekend … Kevin Alston returned from suspension to slot back in at left back in place of Chris Tierney, while Patrick Mullins started at striker in place of Jerry Bengtson
- Patrick Mullins made his second start – and appearance – on the season … he last appeared in (and started in) the teams’ season opener at Houston on March 8
- The following players were unavailable because of injury: Jose Goncalves (R quadriceps strain), Shalrie Joseph (L calf strain), Kelyn Rowe (L hamstring strain) and Saer Sene (L quadriceps strain)
- Jackson’s goal in the sixth minute was the second-fastest goal allowed by the Revolution this season … in the season opener at Houston, Will Bruin converted in the second minute
Santander Man of the Match
F Patrick Mullins – The rookie forward, making his second-ever appearance, scored his first professional goal and supported the Revs’ attack with solid hold-up play while dealing with a physical TFC backline
Next Match
The Revolution will next host U.S. National Team captain – and former Revolution star – Clint Dempsey and Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday, May 11, at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. ET.
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub
Tickets: Start at $25 and are available through Ticketmaster outlets and the Revolution Box Office at (877) GET-REVS (438-7387)
A special Mother’s Day ticket package is available, which includes four midfield tickets to the match, a pregame field visit, photo on the field and welcome message on the Gillette Stadium LED boards.
New England Revolution at Toronto FC
May 3, 2014 – BMO Field (Toronto, Ontario)
New England Revolution 2, Toronto FC 1
Scoring Summary:
TFC – Jackson (Gilberto) 6
NE – Patrick Mullins (Daigo Kobayashi) 24
NE – Lee Nguyen (penalty) 82
New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth, Kevin Alston (Chris Tierney 35), A.J. Soares, Andrew Farrell, Darrius Barnes, Diego Fagundez (Steve Neumann 77), Lee Nguyen, Andy Dorman ©, Daigo Kobayashi (Scott Caldwell 57), Teal Bunbury, Patrick Mullins
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Charlie Davies, Stephen McCarthy, Jerry Bengtson
STATS: Shots 14, Shots on target 5, Saves 2, Corner kicks 1, Offsides 0, Fouls 13, Possession 39.9%, Passes 342 (74.6%)
Toronto FC: Julio Cesar, Justin Morrow, Doneil Henry, Mark Bloom (Dwayne De Rosario 87), Steven Caldwell ©, Jonathan Osorio, Jackson (Issey Nakajima-Farran 78), Kyle Bekker (Alvaro Rey 68), Michael Bradley, Gilberto, Jermain Defoe
Substitutes Not Used: Joe Bendik, Nick Hagglund, Bradley Orr, Andrew Wiedeman
STATS: Shots 15, Shots on target 3, Saves 3, Corner kicks 4, Offsides 0, Fouls 18, Possession 60.1%, Passes 529 (82.0%)
Misconduct Summary:
TFC – Jackson (caution) 43
TFC – Michael Bradley (caution) 58
NE – Diego Fagundez (caution) 75
NE – Scot Caldwell (caution) 92+
Referee: Mark Geiger
Assistant Referees: Joe Fletcher (AR1), Gianni Facchini (AR2)
Fourth Official: Mathieu Bourdeau
Weather: Cloudy and 52 degrees
Attendance: 22,591
Team Records
New England Revolution: 4-3-2, 14 pts.
Toronto FC: 3-4-0, 9 pts.
