Chad Barrett's second-half goal answered Taylor Twellman's first-half strike and salvaged a draw for Toronto FC in a 1-1 tie with the league-leading New England Revolution on Saturday night at BMO Field.
The draw extends Toronto's winless drought at home to six games (0-2-4), but it is nevertheless a positive result for TFC against the top team in Major League Soccer. For the Revolution, they now have 20 points on the road this season, the second-highest away total in the league behind Chicago's 21 away points.
All-Star goalkeeper Matt Reis missed his second consecutive game due to an adductor strain, meaning backup 'keeper Doug Warren was between the posts for the second game in a row. Wells Thompson started in the midfield in place of the suspended Sainey Nyassi, while Khano Smith started at striker with Adam Cristman out of the lineup with a toe injury.
Perhaps as a nod to the Revolution's 11 goals in four all-time meetings with his side, TFC coach John Carver moved usual left back Jim Brennan forward into the midfield, with a back line that included Tyrone Marshall (back after a one-game absence due to a hip injury) and Marvell Wynne, who was returning after international duty with the U.S. Olympic team. Given that new acquisition Carlos Ruiz had yet to arrive in Toronto, with attacking options a bit thin (after the release of Laurent Robert and the transfer of Maurice Edu to Rangers in Scotland), Rohan Ricketts lined up alongside Chad Barrett in attack.
The opening 10 minutes were fairly quiet, and it was actually TFC who had the best chance in the early going, when Wynne narrowly missed recording his first career MLS goal with a 25-yard bending shot that very nearly curled under the bar.
TFC continued their aggression by continually out-hustling the Revolution to loose balls and finding space downfield. The only trouble was that Toronto couldn't do much with this space, as their attacks were thwarted by players rushing offside.
New England solved the riddle of TFC's stacked backfield in the 36th minute. Defender Chris Tierney had enough room on the left side to sent a cross towards the front of the net toward Twellman. Reds goalkeeper Greg Sutton stayed on his line and Twellman rose up to send a header into the left side of the net.
It was the fourth goal of an injury-plagued season for Twellman, who has now scored in three of his last four games. It was also the striker's fourth goal in four career games against TFC.
Now in the unfamiliar position of trailing at BMO Field, the Reds responded to Twellman's goal with greater effort on attack. They recorded four shots in the rest of the first half, and also missed a point-blank scoring chance when midfielder Kevin Harmse couldn't collect a cross sent by Ricketts to the front of the net.
The second half began with a quicker pace than the first, as the Reds were pushing for the tying goal and New England were able to pick up opportunities on the counter-attack. After the Revs opened the second half with three shots in the first 10 minutes, TFC responded with a near-miss on a Barrett header from a Ricketts cross. Barrett was a factor again a few minutes later, when he delivered a hard shot through a crowd in the penalty area that Warren was able to block.
Finally, the Toronto striker broke through in the 66th minute. In a play that was something of a combination of his previous two attempts, Barrett accepted a Ricketts cross and fired a hard shot that this time eluded Warren and found the back of the net. It was Barrett's seventh overall goal of the season, and his second goal in four games with Toronto since being acquired in a deal from the Chicago Fire.
Barrett's goal seemed to energize the Toronto attack. The striker just missed another chance a minute after his score, and a Julius James header off an Amado Guevara corner went just over the crossbar. In the 72nd minute, Guevara collected a long downfield pass and had to wait for a pass partner to catch up. His pass to Tyler Rosenlund was overran by the midfielder, but Ricketts was open coming down the flank for an even clearer opportunity. The Englishman's shot, however, sailed just left of the net.
The Revolution, for their part, managed to hold steady on defense and created some attack of their own. Jeff Larentowicz had a direct free kick in the 75th minute that was blocked over the net. Twellman, a few minutes later, turned an innocuous-looking pass into a quick nudge of a shot that nearly snuck its way into the Toronto net.
Each side had quality chances in the closing minutes. In the 88nd minute, TFC captain Jim Brennan took a pass and was streaking up the left side, but his shot went left of the net. Then, in extra time, Revs captain Steve Ralston nearly scored after a giveaway just outside the penalty area, but Sutton was in place to make the save. A subsequent New England corner led to some dangerous bounces, the final chance falling to Khano Smith, but with Sutton out of the goal, his volley hit a TFC defender and was deflected away.
The Reds go on the road to face Chivas USA on Saturday in the first of back-to-back matches against the Red-and-White. The Revolution continue their busy stretch when they face Trinidad & Tobago side Joe Public F.C. on Tuesday in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions' League preliminary round tie. New England's next league game is on Saturday against the L.A. Galaxy.
Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
