FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (March 3, 2024) – The New England Revolution (0-2-0; 0 pts) fell to Toronto FC (1-0-1; 4 pts.), 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Revolution captain Carles Gil made his 125th MLS start in the match while defender Henry Kessler logged the full 90 minutes in his first MLS start of 2024.
New England outshot Toronto, 19-8, on the afternoon, placing six shots on target to the visitors’ two. Homegrown midfielder Esmir Bajraktarević recorded a career high three shots on frame during his 90-minute performance, adding three chances created. Tomás Chancalay was also heavily involved in the attack as New England applied pressure throughout the game, registering his sixth straight MLS match with at least five shot attempts.
Toronto’s Lorenzo Insigne found the back of the net in the 27th minute, marking the game’s lone goal. The Revolution created several opportunities to tie the match, especially in the final 20 minutes of action, seeing six of their shots blocked or saved to close out the second half. Matt Polster nearly pulled the Revolution level with a powerful strike in the second-half stoppage time, but Toronto goalkeeper Sean Johnson made the stop, one of his six on the day, to preserve the clean sheet.
Alongside Bajraktarević, Homegrown midfielders Noel Buck and Jack Panayotou both saw action in New England’s MLS home opener. Buck, an Arlington native, logged 61 minutes in his 25th MLS start. Midfielder Nacho Gil also entered the match as a substitute, his fourth consecutive appearance to begin the 2024 season.
New England continues the busy schedule with two games next week, beginning on Wednesday, March 6, when the Revolution welcome Costa Rican side LD Alajuelense to Foxborough for the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series. The 6:00 p.m. ET kickoff airs nationally on FS2 in English and TUDN in Spanish. Then, on Saturday, March 9, the Revolution hit the road to face Atlanta United FC in MLS regular season play. The 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is available to watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish. Listen to the Revolution’s local radio calls on 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2 (WBZ-FM), with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies on the call, and on 1260 AM “Nossa Radio USA” in Portuguese.
MATCH NOTES
- Sunday’s attendance of 29,293 was the second-highest attendance for a standalone home opener in Revolution history, the highest since the inaugural home game in 1996. Today marked the highest attendance for a home opener in Gillette Stadium, surpassing the previous mark of 22,006 set in 2002 for the stadium’s inaugural match.
- Carles Gil registered his 125th start in MLS for New England, recording a game-high five chances created along with team highs in duels won (6) and dribbles completed (3).
- DeJuan Jones surpassed 10,000 career minutes played in MLS with his 88-minute shift on Sunday, registering a team-high seven recoveries and four clearances.
- Henry Kessler notched his first start of the regular season, completing 82 of his team-high 88 passes on the day.
- Tomás Chancalay registered five shots on the day, his sixth straight MLS game with at least five shot attempts.
- Esmir Bajraktarević started for a second time in as many regular season matches this season, playing all 90 minutes and leading New England with a career single-game high three shots on target.
- Noel Buck made his 25th career MLS start in Sunday’s contest, creating two chances and completing 97.1 percent of his passes.
GAME CAPSULE
New England Revolution 0, Toronto FC 1
March 3, 2024 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Referee: Wesley Costa
Assistant Referees: Guilherme Rodrigues (AR1), Miguel Yupari (AR2)
Fourth Official: Victor Borges
Video Assistant Referee: Greg Barkey
Weather: 57 degrees and mostly cloudy.
Attendance: 29,293
Scoring Summary:
TOR – Lorenzo Insigne 1 (Unassisted) 27’
Misconduct Summary:
TOR – Federico Bernardeschi (Yellow Card – Tactical Foul) 73’
TOR – Nicksoen Gomis (Yellow Card – Time Wasting) 82’
TOR – Sean Johnson (Yellow Card – Dissent) 87’
TOR – Ayo Akinola (Yellow Card – Hard Foul) 90’+3
New England Revolution: Henrich Ravas; DeJuan Jones (Jack Panayotou 88’), Dave Romney, Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell (Nick Lima 73’); Noel Buck (Mark-Anthony Kaye 61’), Matt Polster; Emmanuel Boateng (Nacho Gil 61’), Carles Gil ©, Esmir Bajraktarević, Tomás Chancalay.
Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Ian Harkes, Tommy McNamara, Jonathan Mensah, Ryan Spaulding.
Toronto FC: Sean Johnson; Kevin Long, Shane O’Neill, Raoul Petretta (Kosi Thompson 78’); Nicksoen Gomis, Alonso Coello, Jonathan Osorio ©, Deybi Flores; Federico Bernardeschi, Lorenzo Insigne (Kobe Franklin 45’); Prince Owusu (Ayo Akinola. 65’)
Substitutes Not Used: Luka Gavran, Latif Blessing, Aime Mabika, Cassius Mailula, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Sigurd Rosted.
