New England Revolution Head Into The Playoffs In Style With Win Over Toronto FC

Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, was the end of the regular season for two teams heading in complete opposite directions. While Revolution fans were holding up banners and singing songs of encouragement for their playoff-bound team, Toronto FC fans are still wondering what exactly happened since the brace Jermain Defoe scored, in the opening weekend against Seattle. The Reds were officially eliminated from postseason competition when they drew Montreal at home last weekend, but New England showed little sympathy for their opponents, as they were focused on heading into the playoffs with as much confidence as possible.

The game meant nothing for either team, with New England clinching second spot in the Eastern Conference already, and Toronto FC out of playoff contention, but both clubs fielded rather strong lineups. New England had their leading goalscorer, Lee Nguyen in the starting eleven, as well as, the likes of Jermaine Jones, Diego Fagundez, and Kelyn Rowe.

Toronto FC was missing their $6 million striker, Jermaine Defoe, who aggravated his groin injury, and has likely played his last game for the Reds. Toronto did have their other two designated players in the lineup though, as both Michael Bradley and Gilberto got the start.

The fans at Gillette Stadium created a terrific atmosphere before the game even kicked off, holding up a big banner saying “Hurry Boys It’s Waiting There For You” with a picture of the MLS Cup. Revolution fans have high hopes heading into the playoffs, and the way their team has performed in the second half of the season, it’s hard to blame them.

The game wasn’t the most entertaining of contests, but both New England and Toronto managed to create chances. Gilberto was the most dangerous player on the pitch for Toronto all game long, and nearly scored a fantastic goal in the first half, but his volley from outside the box rattled off of Bobby Shuttleworth’s crossbar.

The home side took the lead in the 36th minute of play, through Nguyen’s 18th goal of the season. In rather bizarre play, the referee’s assistant put his flag up to indicate a streaking Chris Tierney was offside, and immediately Toronto players had stopped playing. However, Nguyen buried the ball that was provided to him from Tierney, and the referee allowed the goal to stand. It was a terrible decision from the referee, but New England were up 1-0, and it was enough to give the Revolution the win.

New England were happy to get all three points from their last match of the regular season, but what they really wanted was to shore up any defensive issues heading into the playoffs. The c lean sheet is exactly what head coach, Jay Heaps, was looking for.

“It’s so important going into the playoffs to not concede home goals. We really wanted to shore that up. I thought our defense was really good. Bobby had one or two good saves,” said Heaps in the post match press conference.

The club’s Defender of the Year, A.J. Soares, told the media much of the same following the match. He stressed how important it was for the Revolution to ensure things were settled at the back end, before the teams kicks off their playoff run.

"“We know in the playoffs that giving up that goal at home is trouble with that road goal rule. The whole group defended. You need all 11 guys defending and doing the work on both sides. [It’s] very satisfying.”"

The Revolution haven’t been able to keep a clean sheet since the last time they played Toronto in August, but they’ve got a 6-1-1 record in that time.

While New England gear up for the playoffs, Toronto FC and their fans are left questioning where it all went wrong. A season that had started off with so much promise and hope, has ended like every other in franchise history, without a playoff berth. It’ll be a long offseason for cub management, as they try and settle the Defoe saga, and potentially look for a new Designated Player to fill the void.