FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (7-3-3; 24 pts.) fell to Toronto FC (2-8-2; 8 pts.), 3-2, at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night. All three of Toronto’s goals came in the first half, with Yeferson Soteldo, Kemar Lawrence, and Tsubasah Endoh scoring in the 9th, 15th, and 24th minutes, respectively. Carles Gil pulled one back for the hosts in the 56th minute with a free kick from beyond the penalty arc, with Adam Buksa adding a second goal in the 78th minute. The loss is the Revolution’s first at Gillette Stadium this season, snapping a five-game winning streak to open this year’s home slate and a seven-game home winning streak across all competitions.
Gil’s goal is his second of the season, and his first via free kick in his Revolution career. He now owns 12 combined goals and assists on the season, which is most among MLS players. Buksa’s goal is his fifth of the year – one shy of his total from last season and one behind Gustavo Bou (6) for the team lead.
Midfielder Emmanuel Boateng, signed by New England as a free agent this offseason, made his club debut as a substitute in the 65th minute and contributed the assist on Buksa’s second-half goal.
New England returns to action on Saturday, July 17, when the club visits Atlanta United FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The match kicks off at 5:00 p.m. ET and will air nationally on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, as well as locally on the radio at 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBIX 1260 AM Nossa Radio.
POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 2, Toronto FC 3
July 7, 2021 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
- The New England Revolution (7-3-3, 24 pts.) dropped a 3-2 result to Toronto FC (2-8-2, 8 pts.) at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night for their first home loss of the 2021 season.
- With the result, New England’s record at home dips to 5-1-0 this season. The Revolution’s all-time record against Toronto moves to 13-10-11, including a 10-4-5 mark at Gillette Stadium.
- The Revolution deployed a starting lineup featuring three changes from Saturday’s draw at Columbus. Brad Knighton replaced Matt Turner in net, while Teal Bunbury and Adam Buksa started in place of Tajon Buchanan and Tommy McNamara, respectively. Turner and Buchanan are unavailable while on international duty with the United States and Canada, respectively, for the Concacaf Gold Cup.
- Adam Buksa made his seventh start of the season and his first since May 29. Buksa, the lone Revolution player to appear in every game since the start of 2020, recorded a game-high eight shots on the night, including four on target.
- Buksa’s goal in the 78th minute was his fifth of the season, one short of his 2020 total and one behind Gustavo Bou (6) for the team lead.
- Carles Gil scored his second goal of the season, and his first in MLS from a direct free kick, in the 56th minute. Gil’s 12 combined goals and assists are the most in MLS as of the end of tonight’s match.
- Gil had a game-high six chances created and matched his MLS single-game high with 112 touches on the night, a total he last reached on March 30, 2019.
- Emmanuel Boateng made his club debut on Wednesday night, coming on as a second-half sub and playing 26 minutes. The 27-year-old, who has now made 122 career MLS appearances with four different clubs, recorded his first assist of the season – the 15th of his MLS career – on Adam Buksa’s goal.
- Henry Kessler made his second straight appearance in the starting lineup, finishing with team-high nine recoveries.
- Defender Brandon Bye logged team highs in tackles (4) and interceptions (2) to go along with five recoveries and a blocked shot in a 90-minute effort.
- Maciel put in his third 90-minute effort of the season – and first since May 12 – as the 21-year-old Brazilian midfielder completed 90.9% of his passes to go along with a team-high seven duels won.
- Brad Knighton started an MLS match for the first time since March 7, 2020. Knighton, whose career record shifts to 27-26-20 in 76 MLS appearances, made four saves on the night.
GAME CAPSULE
REFEREE: Rosendo Mendoza
AR1 (bench): Claudiu Baeda; AR2 (opposite): Ian McKay
4th: Joshua Encarnacion
Video Assistant Referee: Daniel Radford
Weather: 73 degrees and cloudy
Scoring Summary:
TOR – Yeferson Soteldo 1 (Auro 2) 9’
TOR – Kemar Lawrence 1 (Alejandro Pozuelo 2) 15’
TOR – Tsubasa Endoh 1 (Yeferson Soteldo 1) 24’
NE – Carles Gil 2 (Free Kick) 56’
NE – Adam Buksa 5 (Emmanuel Boateng 1) 78’
Misconduct Summary:
TOR – Marco Delgado (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 55’
NE – Tommy McNamara (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 75’
TOR – Nick DeLeon (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 89’
New England Revolution: Brad Knighton; DeJuan Jones (Arnór Traustason 72’), Andrew Farrell, Henry Kessler, Brandon Bye; Maciel, Matt Polster (Tommy McNamara 46’ [Edward Kizza 86’]); Teal Bunbury (Emmanuel Boateng 64’), Carles Gil ©; Gustavo Bou, Adam Buksa.
Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Jon Bell, A.J. DeLaGarza, Wilfrid Kaptoum, Scott Caldwell.
Toronto FC: Alex Bono; Auro, Omar Gonzalez, Luke Singh, Kemar Lawrence; Michael Bradley, Marco Delgado; Tsubasa Endoh (Nick DeLeon 73’), Alejandro Pozuelo, Yeferson Soteldo (Dom Dwyer 84’); Ayo Akinola (Patrick Mullins 77’).
Substitutes Not Used: Jacob Shaffelburg, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Jayden Nelson, Noble Okello, Kevin Silva, Ralph Priso-Mbongue.
Full statistics available HERE.
