Ten Man Toronto Hold Revs To Draw

A wide open match saw one player and one manager sent to the showers in route to a 1-1 draw.

Aug 2, 2009 1:03:27 AM

More On : New England Revolution, Toronto FC

FOXBOROUGH- It was a night for the record books at Gillette stadium as the New England Revolution set a new club record for the most minutes played without conceding a goal.

The 384 minute streak spanned nearly a month, but just one minute after setting the new all-time mark New England passed out a goal to Dwayne De Rosario.

Don't Miss

With Jay Heaps back in action after returning from the Gold Cup and almost the entire roster fit for action the Revolution came into the match as close to full strength as they had been all season.

Toronto was still without the services of Amado Guevara through injury, but fielded a strong attacking side headlined by Ali Gerba and Dwayne De Rosario.

Despite having Chad Barrett sent off for receiving his second yellow in the 50th minute, TFC managed to hold out for a 1-1 draw and keep their place three points ahead of New England for fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Barrett was not the only person shown marching orders as New England manager Steve Nicol was sent off late in the match for berating the fourth official.

First Half

Right from the start the match was the type of wide open affair one would expect from two teams battling for a playoff spot. In just the second minute of play New England put together a dangerous move sparked by a nice flick from towering forward Edgaras Jankauskas to his partner Kheli Dube.

Dube did well to touch the ball around a defender and looked to be in clear on goal. But rookie ‘keeper Stefan Frei was quick off his line and cleared the danger. The home side kept pushing and dominated the opening 15 minutes, but a header pushed over the bar by midfielder Jeff Larentowicz was the only other chance the home side could muster before Toronto settled in and began to take over the match.

In the 18th De Rosario left a wonderful dummy for Gerba, who in turn found Pablo Vitti streaking into the box. But Revolution defender Kevin Alston was quick to react and blocked Vitti’s close range effort. In the 20th TFC nearly took an advantage, again through Vitti, as the Argentine got on the end of Jim Brennan cross, but the headed effort met the crossbar after clearly having New England ‘keeper Matt Reis beat.

In the 29th it looked as though New England had snatched a goal against the run of play when Jay Heaps sent a header across the frame of goal to Jankauskas who put it calmly in the net, but one of the players was ruled offside, and five minutes later the home side would be down.

A brilliant run from Barrett into the middle of the pitch ended with a shot that struck Gerba in the face on the way to goal. The deflection was a kind one for the visitors and fell to an unmarked De Rosario.

The midfielder hit struck it with perfect form and despite a tough angle, there was never a chance for Reis to make the save. New England failed to find many chances as the half came to a close and had to settle for heading to the locker room down a goal.

Second Half

Revolution coach Steve Nicol brought Shalrie Joseph off the bench to start the second half in hopes of keeping Toronto from controlling the middle of the field as they had in the first half, but Toronto didn’t seem to care. A wonderful combination between De Rosario, Gerba and Vitti set the Argentine through on goal in the 48th.

But Reis cut the angle well and kept the home side within striking distance. Two minutes later the match took a poor turn for the visitors. Chad Barrett, who was on a yellow from a hard foul in the first half, was sent off with his second yellow for a late tackle on Alston. New England took advantage of being up a man and quickly began to dominate possession.

On numerous occasions over the next 20 minutes New England strung together passes and worked into dangerous areas, but the final ball was not there. While the home side pushed higher up the pitch the visitors were content to play on the counter and in the 69th they nearly netted a second. Gerba did extremely well to hold possession on a ball over the top and laid off a pass for midfielder Sam Cronin who had darted forward in support.

The rookie seemed to have a clear path for his shot but Revolution midfielder Michael Videira made a great tracking run and stepped in at the last second to block Cronin’s effort. The effort from New England would not go to waste. In the 76th the home side found their equalizer. Heaps sent a chip to Joseph at the back post and the big Grenadian sent a header back across frame. Jankauskas was on hand to score his first Major League Soccer goal, sliding in and doing just enough to beat Frei with his left foot.

Both sides continued to press for a winner. Revolution winger Sainey Nyassi nearly found it in the 84th but his strike went the wrong side of the post.

In the 88th TFC had one final opportunity to take all three points. A sloppy giveaway from New England set Marvell Wynne free down the right side. Only a last ditch effort from defender Darrius Barnes kept Wynne from finding De Rosario, who was unmarked and streaking down the middle of the pitch, but in the end the winner was not to be and both sides would settle for a draw.

Allen Ramsey, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page

Follow Goal.com on Twitter

Follow Goal.com on Facebook