Big win for the New England Revolution on Saturday as they beat Toronto FC 3-0 in Toronto.
Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe each had a goal and an assist in the victory while Teal Bunbury added a second half tally to give New England its second straight victory and extend the club’s unbeaten streak to three games. The Revs are now tied with TFC and Columbus for third place in the congested Eastern Conference with 33 points.
New England, who had lost their last five road games got off to a perfect start when they took a 1-0 lead inside the game’s opening 90 seconds. Lee Nguyen intercepted an errant pass from Toronto defender Mark Bloom and hit a low, right-footed shot into the net from nearly 25 yards out to put New England in front. The goal was Nguyen’s team-best 10th of the season and fourth in the last five games.
The Revolution were able to double their lead 19 minutes later with Nguyen again playing a role. Kelyn Rowe intercepted an errant pass from TFC defender Bradley Orr and played the ball forward to Nguyen. The Revolution midfielder cleverly returned the pass to Rowe who skipped past Michael Bradley in midfield and fired a shot past Toronto goalkeeper Joe Bendik from 30 yards out to make the score 2-0.
Just before the hour mark, the Revolution closed out the scoring with Teal Bunbury, who was born an hour away in Hamilton, Ontario, scoring his third of the season. Rowe again started the attack, pouncing on a loose ball near midfield. The third-year midfielder raced past Toronto’s Collen Warner and played a pass forward to Charlie Davies behind the TFC defense. Bendik raced off his line to close down Davies’ angle, but the Revolution forward calmly squared a pass across the face of goal for Bunbury to pass into the open net, giving the Revs a 3-0 lead.
Bobby Shuttleworth finished the game with three saves, including a diving stop off Jonathan Osorio in the 61st minute, to earn his second straight clean sheet and help the Revs record a shutout on the road for the first time this season.
With the Revs comfortably leading midway through the second half, newly acquired midfielder Jermaine Jones came on for his Revolution and MLS debut, replacing Daigo Kobayashi. Jones will have the chance to make his home debut for the Revolution when the club returns to action on Wednesday, September 3 against the defending MLS Cup champion Sporting Kansas City. Kickoff for that game is set for 7:30 p.m.
