TORONTO – New England Revolution head coach Brad Friedel called Saturday night’s 4-1 loss to Toronto FC “a tale of two halves.” Unfortunately for the Revs, a poor second half heavily outweighed a positive first half as their playoff hopes were dealt a blow north of the border.
It was an evening that started well for the visitors. Friedel had called upon his group to put TFC under pressure early and they did so, scoring the opening goal through Cristian Penilla in just the 10th minute, his 11th goal of the season to match Teal Bunbury for the team lead.
“I think whether it was Guillermo (Hauché), Penilla, Teal or Juan (Agudelo), those guys up top did a good job pinning their defenders back and exploiting their one-v-ones on the outside,” said Andrew Farrell. “Especially coming into halftime, I thought we were the better team and we knew we probably should’ve capitalized on more of our opportunities.”
Although Sebastian Giovinco had pulled the hosts level before the halftime break, New England still felt confident coming out of the interval. One change was made to begin the second half as Diego Fagundez replaced Scott Caldwell, who had rolled his ankle during the opening 45 minutes.
Friedel noted that it was a straight swap with Fagundez replacing Caldwell in the center of a traditional four-man midfield.
“(The move) just completely unbalanced the team, which it shouldn’t have done,” Friedel said. “We stopped winning all the second balls in the middle, and that’s where Toronto is very good – when they win the ball in the middle, and then they can spring attacks. We did very little to stop that.”
One sequence that could’ve changed the match arrived early in the second half when Jonathan Osorio appeared to give TFC a 2-1 lead. Referee Ismail Elfath went to Video Review, however, and disallowed the goal, pulling it back for a foul near midfield in the buildup.
It was a moment that should’ve offered the Revolution a boost of energy, but instead they conceded twice in quick succession and trailed 3-1 before the game reached the hour mark.
“That would’ve been a huge boost,” said Agudelo. “Once that call went our way, I looked at our guys and it looked like everyone thought we were going to pull this one off. We were confident after that, but again, they slipped in somehow and they were able to pick up a rebound and score.”
The loss, combined with D.C. United’s 5-0 win over the Montreal Impact, leaves the Revs still five points back of the final playoff spot but now with just four games remaining. Awaiting them next weekend is a trip to visit Supporters’ Shield leaders Atlanta United.
“Nothing less than three points in Atlanta,” said Agudelo. “That’s our season, right there.”
