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Revs rally to post comeback road win vs. Toronto FC

Lee Nguyen,Michael Bradley

By RYAN TOLMICH

Patrick Mullins posted the first breakout match of his rookie season on Saturday, and did so at the expense of young Canadian defender Doneil Henry.

Mullins scored a stunning first-half equalizer, then drew a second-half penalty, to help lead the New England Revolution to a 2-1 victory over Toronto FC at BMO Field on Saturday. Lee Nguyen converted the 82nd-minute penalty to seal the victory, New England’s third in four matches.

It was TFC that came out of the gates strong with a cohesive attack that saw the hosts create three quality chances in the game’s opening 10 minutes. The scoring was opened in the sixth minute on a long-range effort by Jackson that took a deflection and rolled past a helpless Bobby Shuttleworth. Jackson’s goal came just minutes after offseason acquisition Gilberto squandered a pair of chances in the games opening five minutes.

The Revs found their equalizer just 18 minutes later on a spectacular long-range effort from Mullins. The Revs first round pick out of Maryland was fed the ball at the top of the box by Daigo Kobayashi off of a bad Henry turnover. Mullins blasted a left-footed shot past Julio Cesar for his first professional goal.

Both sides failed to take advantage throughout the rest of the game, as the two team combined for 29 shots with just eight actually coming on frame.

That is, until the 82nd minute, when Henry was whistled for a handball in the penalty area after blocking a Mullins shot with his raised arm. Nguyen stepped up and calmly slid the penalty to Cesar’s right to give the visitors the lead.

TFC provided one last scare in the 86th, but the Revs were bailed out by a spectacular save from Shuttleworth. The 26-year-old goalkeeper parried away a perfectly hit header from Gilberto, knocking the ball off the bar before collecting in front of a swarm of TFC attackers, effectively sealing the three points for his side.

With the win, the Revs now jump to the top of the Eastern Conference standings with 14 points from their opening nine games, while Toronto slip to sixth in the conference with nine points.

TFC will look to bounce back on May 17 when they host the New York Red Bulls, while the victors will look to build on the momentum of back-to-back wins when the host Seattle next Sunday.

Here are the match highlights:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQaGXVxZdzk]

Comments

  1. Lee Nyugen has been the go to guy for the Revs for a while now. Very dynamic, good vision, good ball control….everything the USMNT needs, especially with the style of play our team is trying to develop, quick 1-2 passing, moving the ball around, organized counter attacks etc. But for some reason the guys with the ability to create something out of nothing (Nyugen, Feilhaber, etc) are just not on Klinsmann’s radar.

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  2. For some reason I think everything concerning USA soccer has changed in less than 3 months. Everything I thought about U.S. soccer and this year’s world cup is “out the window”. Yes, just over 3 months ago we had our team, Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, Zusi, Altidore, Wondolowski, Cameron, Besler Gonzalas, etc. I was with it all the way. I knew all of them had to play way over their heads to make it out of group but so be it.

    Then something happened. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Getting a world-class young striker to declare for us over Germany, then having the Copa 2016 in the U.S, with it maybe being an every 4 year event (that means the next big tournament for us will be in only 2 years, not in 4 in Russia). Then having a big coaching change and now, just yesterday, Gidion Zelalem was in Washington D.C. with his dad getting U.S. Passports.

    Now I don’t know what to think. I only know I, and most everyone that has been following the USMNT could be in for a big surprise, maybe even a shock.

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    • True, exciting time. I don’t think this will make the US a top 6 powerhouse, but maybe we’re seeing the US become a consistently top 10-15.

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      • Very true, but what does this mean for all of our predictions about the team going to Brazil? I think that is where the surprises and shock will be for all of us.

  3. Lee Nguyen is without question the best midfielder with an American passport at the moment, needs to be in the field in Brazil to create chances and pull strings…big miss by JK if not

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    • hahah classic example of a comment that takes nothing but the moment into consideration, with no context. What will you say after Nguyen has a bad game? How could anyone rate the guy, what a donkey?

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  4. Nguyen’s father wasn’t the coach of the USMNT for it seemed liked 8 years, that was his downfall. He ran circles around Bardley.

    Also, fanbois making comments like “” He (Bardley) wasn’t the dominant MLS player he can be””…..

    Seriously, he’s played like 5-6 games in Toronto! OMG

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    • sorry so are you saying Bradley has nepotism to thank for his USA career and Nguyen is unlucky? Or that Bradley isnt being judged fairly, however that relates? Really not following your comment

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  5. I was only able to catch the final 10 minutes. Can anyone comment on Bradley’s recovery from whatever minor surgery he underwent on his foot? Obviously he recovered enough to play, but did he seem at all tentative? Watching only the final minutes, I thought he looked driven and strong, but he was desperate for a win and then a draw.

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    • Bradley played much better/harder in the final 10 minutes than the rest of the game. I would not say those minutes were representative. In general, he had a solid game. Bradley is a player that makes other players look good around him – he doesn’t have enough quality around him on TFC to really shine. He’s also recovering from surgery. Like someone else mentioned, he was playing not to get hurt. As a USMNT team fan, I’m fine with that! Recover slowly and surely.

      As for folks like ZTom, below, I don’t know what to say. Bradley is the US’ best field player, barring perhaps Dempsey. Just because Nguyen played a better game than him yesterday really doesn’t mean that much. And I say that as a Revs fan who is happy a heck that Nguyen is on my team.

      For the past two years, Nguyen has shown glimpses of brilliance but it’s always been inconsistent. This is the first year that he is showing up game in and game out. I definitely think he’s national team quality – but he can only play central midfield. We’ve got a lot of great central midfielders.

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      • Thanks for the report, Eric W. I too am happy with a player recovering slowly and surely.

  6. Mullins was excellent. I hope he has earned a starting position. By the way, does anyone know where Sene is?? Go Revs!!!

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  7. Nguyen screwed himself I think by chasing money in Vietnam instead of taking that bad contract at Dallas? and then playing himself into a much better one (which he would have done). Those lost years in Vietnam are the reason he can’t get back into the player pool, he’ll be 28 by the time the nats reform after the WC. 32 at next world cup, could happen but I think he’s missed his window whereas if he’d come direct to MLS i think he’d at least be in the 30.

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    • Nguyen possesses a skill set that we do not have much of on the US MNT. I realize it is late to realistically expect him to get a call up for this round, but I at least hope he starts getting called up for the next cycle. I think the way he plays he could still have the qualities to be on the next WC even though he will be 32.

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  8. Bradley looked like a player that was playing not to get hurt. He looked slow, lazy and generally uninterested in the game. About an 80% effort. His counterpart on the Revs, Lee Nguyen, totally outplayed the highly paid, NAT team Bradley. Why Nguyen cant get a sniff at the NAT level is a mystery. He was MVP of this game

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    • I wasn’t quite so down on Bradley. He wasn’t the dominant MLS player he can be at times, but I thought he was ok, but the midfielders around him really didn’t seem to bring anything to the table. I think TFC will be fine in the long run – they just need time to gel. As for Nguyen, he was definitely better than Bradley. The problem is he broke out career-wise a little too late (i.e. last spring/summer, although he was good prior) to be included in the gold-cup cycle, and then had the winter off so no chance to really make a case for himself. And at 27 he’s likely too old for 2018, so may not get the call going forward, unfortunately. He’d be fun to watch (even if just in a gold-cup setting).

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      • +1

        TFC’s midfield looked bad. It seemed like they had no chemistry, just could not put some nice passes together.

    • he does have 3 caps for the full usa squad… in 2007. At this stage its too late to bring him in before brazil but I should think he’s earned an invite for the fall or at least the january camp.

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