By Canadian Press

Toronto FC picks up rare point on the road in scoreless draw with New England

Jul 30, 2022 | 8:23 PM

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Toronto FC picked up a rare point on the road with a 0-0 draw against the New England Revolution in MLS play Saturday, but were denied the win when Djordje Petrovic stopped Italian star Lorenzo Insigne from the penalty spot in the 81st minute.

The six-foot-four Serbian goalkeeper dove to his right, getting one hand on the ball.

Toronto (6-12-5) remains winless away from home in league play this season (0-7-4), with just four points out of a possible 33. On a positive note, it was a second straight clean sheet for Toronto which ended a string of 29 league games without a shutout when it blanked visiting Charlotte 4-0 last Saturday.

New England (6-7-9) saw its winless run grow to six (0-2-4) while extending its unbeaten run at home to eight games (3-0-5). The Revs last went six or more consecutive matches (0-6-3) without a victory from July to September 2018 under former coach Brad Friedel.

Referee Ismir Pekmic pointed to the penalty spot in the 75th minute after Toronto substitute Deandre Kerr went down as Matt Polster challenged for the ball just inside the box. Insigne waited to take the kick as Canadian video assistant referee Carol Anne Chenard checked the play.

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Pekmic was summoned to the pitch-side monitor but did not change his mind, much to New England’s displeasure.

Newly signed Revs designated player Giacomo Vrioni, making his home debut off the bench, had a chance to win it in stoppage time but his deflection from in-close flashed wide.

Going into weekend play, 13th-place Toronto was three places and four points below New England in the Eastern Conference — and six points out of a playoff position.

TFC was coming off a penalty shootout loss Tuesday in Vancouver to the Whitecaps in the Canadian Championship final. That followed the win over visiting Charlotte last Saturday that saw Insigne and fellow Italian international Federico Bernardeschi impress in their MLS debut.

Insigne, Bernardeschi and fellow Italian Domenico Criscito all started for Toronto against the Revs. Insigne and Bernardeschi showed flashes of their skills on the artificial turf at Gillette Stadium but overall it was a frustrating evening for the star duo.

Still Bernardeschi showed his class in the 58th minute, with a left-footed long-range shot out of nowhere that rattled the goalpost as Petrovic looked on.

Insigne also came close in the 44th minute but his shot from close range was stopped by Petrovic after Bernardeschi found his countryman in the penalty box with a nice diagonal ball. It was Toronto’s lone shot on target in the half.

Bernardeschi, starting his third game in a week, exited in the 68th minute. Four minutes later, Insigne’s swerving shot from outside the box forced an acrobatic one-handed save from Petrovic.

Saturday’s matchup featured two of the league’s most successful coaches in New England’s Bruce Arena and Toronto’s Bob Bradley, who came into the game with 246 and 188 regular-season wins, respectively.

The two go back. Bradley served as an assistant coach under Arena at the University of Virginia in 1983-84 and assisted Arena at D.C. United in 1996-97. They also worked together with the U.S. Olympic team.

Goalkeeper Alex Bono made his 150th appearance in all competitions for TFC.

Both teams appeared off their game in the opening half, with passes going astray and final touches lacking.

Carles Gil, the most influential player on the pitch in the first half, and Brandon Bye tested Bono with long-range shots within the first 20 minutes of the match. Jayden Nelson shot just wide for Toronto in the 20th, off a good feed from Bernardeschi.

Chris Mavinga and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty slotted in for Toronto, replacing Shane O’Neill and Kosi Thompson. Toronto was without injured goalkeeper Quentin Westberg and midfielders Mark-Anthony Kaye and Noble Okello.

New England star striker Gustavo Bou, an Argentine designated player who leads the team with seven goals, was out with a leg injury.

Vrioni, who opened his MLS career off the bench in Columbus, came on in the 55th minute. The Italian-born Albanian international fills the DP slot vacated by Polish international Adam Buksa, who was transferred to France’s Lens last month.

Vrioni, a 23-year-old forward, tied for the scoring lead with 19 goals in the Austrian Bundesliga, while on loan with WSG Tirol from Italy’s Juventus.

New England midfielder Emmanuel Boateng came on in the 69th minute, making his 150th MLS regular-season appearance.

Former Toronto striker Jozy Altidore, who signed with New England after his contract was bought out by TFC in February, joined Mexico’s Puebla this week on loan until January.

TFC has won its last two visits to Foxborough. But its overall record at Gillette Stadium was 4-10-5 going into the game.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2022.

The Canadian Press