August 14, 2021 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – New England Revolution News Release
TORONTO – The New England Revolution (13-3-4; 43 pts.) defeated Toronto FC (3-10-6; 15 pts.), 2-1, on Saturday night at BMO Field to extend the club’s unbeaten run to a season-long seven games. Canadian international Tajon Buchanan, playing in front of a hometown crowd for the first time in his MLS career, netted the opening goal with a header in the 19th minute. The hosts tied the match at 1-1 on Jonathan Osorio’s goal in the 79th minute, before Adam Buksa drew a penalty kick and Gustavo Bou converted from the spot to give New England the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute.
With the club’s sixth win in the last seven games, the Revolution remain six points ahead in the Supporters’ Shield standings and currently sit 12 points clear atop the Eastern Conference. Tonight’s win was the Revolution’s fourth straight victory away from home, a feat only reached once before in club history (2008). Now 6-2-3 on the road, the club’s six away wins are tied for the MLS lead and a club record, while the team’s 13 total wins also pace the league.
With his game-winning strike from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute, Gustavo Bou moves into sole possession of first place in the MLS Golden Boot race. His 12 goals on the year are a career high as the Argentinian, who recorded his 50th MLS appearance tonight, now owns 11 goals in his last 13 games. Bou’s seven away goals this season also pace MLS. Of his 26 regular season goals in MLS, the tally was Bou’s first from the penalty spot.
Buchanan, making his first MLS appearance at BMO Field, lifts his season total to four goals, a career high. The Brampton, Ontario native’s goal was New England’s 20th first-half goal of the year, most in MLS. DeJuan Jones delivered the cross on Buchanan’s header, fiving him four assists on the year. Jones is currently one assist behind the league leader among defenders.
Matt Turner registered three saves en route to his ninth win of the season, setting a new career high. Turner improves to 9-2-4 on the season.
New England returns home to host D.C. United on Wednesday, Aug. 18. The 7:00 p.m. ET match will air locally on WSBK-TV38, myRITV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and WBIX 1260 AM Nossa Radio.
POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 2, Toronto FC 1
August 14, 2021 – BMO Field (Toronto, Canada)
Team Notes:
The New England Revolution (13-3-4; 43 pts.) continue their historic start to the season with a 2-1 win against Toronto FC (3-10-6; 15 pts.) at BMO Field. The Revs’ 43 points are their most ever through 20 games played.
New England’s lead in the Supporters’ Shield standings is currently six points, while the club’s lead in the Eastern Conference improves to 12 points over second-place New York City FC.
The Revolution lead MLS with 13 wins, two more than the next-closest team. The Revs need only five more wins in their final 14 games to surpass the club record for victories in a season (17).
The Revs have claimed 19 of a possible 21 points during the club’s seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1), its longest of the season.
New England has now won four straight away games for the second time in club history (2008).
The Revolution are 6-2-3 on the road in 2021. The club’s six away wins are currently most in MLS and tied for a club record (eight times; last: 2020).
The Revs are now 11-0-2 this season when scoring the first goal, and 8-0-1 when leading at the half. The club’s 20 first-half goals lead the league.
Individual Notes:
Gustavo Bou’s goal from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute gave him the standalone lead in the MLS Golden Boot race with 12 goals on the season. Bou, who registered his 50th MLS appearance tonight, has scored 11 goals in his last 13 games.
Tajon Buchanan, native of Brampton Ontario, scored the opening goal in his first-ever MLS match in front of his hometown crowd at BMO Field. The Canadian international’s four goals this MLS season rank third on the team. Buchanan finished with a team-best three shots over 87 minutes played tonight.
DeJuan Jones delivered his career-high fourth assist of the season with a left-footed cross to Buchanan on his 19th-minute goal. Jones’ four helpers are tied for second most on the team and tied for second most among all MLS defenders. Jones finished with a team-highs in touches (70), key passes (3) and interceptions (3), along with eight possessions gained, two clearances, and two tackles in addition to his assist.
Matt Turner improves to 9-2-4 on the season and 2-1-2 all-time against Toronto FC. Turner’s nine wins are a new MLS-career high, surpassing his total of eight victories reached in each of the last three seasons.
Andrew Farrell made his 259th MLS appearance, moving within two games of tying the club’s all-time appearances record (261). Farrell logged five possessions gained as he remains the only Revolution player to play every minute this season.
Bruce Arena’s MLS career record improves to 231-134-109 and 29-13-20 with the Revolution. He is now nine wins away from tying Sigi Schmid (240) for the most victories in MLS regular season history.
GAME CAPSULE
REFEREE: Rubiel Vazquez
Assistant Referee: Logan Brown (AR1), Gianni Fachini (AR2)
4th Official: Fabrizio Stasolla
Video Assistant Referee: Geoff Gamble
Weather: 75 degrees and sunny
Scoring Summary:
NE – Tajon Buchanan 4 (DeJuan Jones 4) 19′
TOR – Jonathan Osorio 4 (Alejandro Pozuelo 4) 79′
NE – Gustavo Bou 12 (Unassisted – Penalty Kick) 83′
Misconduct Summary:
TOR- Marky Delgado (Yellow Card – Hard Foul) 48′
NE- Brandon Bye (Yellow Card – Hard Foul) 63′
New England Revolution: Matt Turner; Andrew Farrell, Henry Kessler, DeJuan Jones, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster (Tommy McNamara 55′), Maciel (Wilfrid Kaptoum 87′), Arnór Traustason (Teal Bunbury 76′), Tajon Buchanan (A.J. DeLaGarza 87′); Gustavo Bou ©, Adam Buksa
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Christian Mafla, Scott Caldwell, Emmanuel Boateng, Damian Rivera
Toronto FC: Alex Bono; Eriq Zavaleta, Omar Gonzalez, Kemar Lawrence; Marky Delgado, Alejandro Pozuelo ©, Jonathan Osorio (Nick DeLeon 90+4′), Richie Laryea, Ralph Priso (Michael Bradley 69′), Ifunanyachi Achara (Patrick Mullins 69′); Yeferson Soteldo
Substitutes Not Used: Justin Morrow, Jayden Nelson, Noble Okello, Quetin Westberg, Jacob Shaffelburg, Auro Jr.
New England Revolution Team Statistics Toronto FC
10 (2)
Shots (on Target) 9 (4)
3
Blocked Shots 2
3 Saves 0
5 Corner Kicks 5
2 Offsides 2
11 Fouls 6
340 (74.4%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 598 (86.6%)
36.5% Possession 63.5%
POSTGAME QUOTES
New England Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena
On tonight’s 2-1 win at Toronto FC:
Arena: “Well, we expected a real difficult game tonight. This was like a cup final for Toronto. Every game is, because of where they are situated [in the Eastern Conference]. And as you can see, they have a very good team. So, we expected for long periods of time to be on the backfoot tonight and we were. And to have the competitive instincts and the intelligence to win this game was a lot of credit to our players. We weren’t at our best tonight, but we competed and sometimes that’s 90 percent of the battle. That’s a terrific three points on the road. This has been a real grind for our team and all the teams in the league and we have a difficult week ahead with a Wednesday and Saturday game as well. To be able to come out with three points here and getting another win on the road is a real credit to the team.”
On where Tajon Buchanan has shown the most growth:
Arena: “He’s grown tactically. Obviously playing more, he has a better feel for the game. Technically, he’s a good player. Physically, he’s grown into a real man and his physical qualities are enormous as well. But I think the experience combined with his technical ability and his physical attributes have made him a very good player. And tonight, his goal tonight was a terrific goal, he was dangerous on a bunch of counters, and he has a huge upside ahead of him. We think he has great potential as a player.”
On DeJuan Jones:
Arena: “Well, [Dejuan Jones] was very good matched up against good players in [Richie] Laryea and [Jonathan] Osorio. And I thought his teammate on the other side of the field, Brandon Bye, was simply outstanding in the closing 10 minutes dealing with [Yeferson] Soteldo. Both were very good, and you know DeJuan continues to grow as a player and it’s really good to see those two players playing well.”
On the team’s ability to stay poised and create scoring chances:
Arena: “It’s terrific. You know, we were fortunate with the penalty and it’s good to see Gustavo [Bou] convert it. He obviously did a little bit better than he did last week in Philadelphia with it. He took the penalty really well. These types of games are going to happen throughout the year and even very good teams around the world, as they go on the road and they face opposition that’s playing well and has to win, it puts a lot of pressure on a team. To be able to keep composure and come out with results is simply outstanding.”
On Matt Polster’s injury status:
Arena: “No, I don’t know. When we know more, we’ll let people know and please don’t be asking us questions every day this week. When we have something definite, we’ll let everyone know. We’ll obviously know more when we get back to Boston.”
On if there was a conversation about Gustavo Bou taking penalties after having his attempt saved in the previous game:
Arena: “There wasn’t a conversation. We just had [Gustavo Bou] take them a couple times in training so he’d feel a little bit more comfortable.”
New England Revolution Forward Tajon Buchanan
On the team finding success without Carles Gil:
Buchanan: “Honestly, I think we all miss Carles [Gil]. He’s an excellent player, the MVP so far this season, and our best player so for sure we all miss him. We hope he has a speedy recovery so he can be on the field and back soon. But at the end of the day, he’s not healthy right now and the next guy has to step up. We have a deep roster and everyone on this team can start games and win games for us and it’s showing because we’re winning.”
On playing in front of his family at home:
Buchanan: “Yeah, definitely. I mean I haven’t played in front of my family in, I can’t even remember. It’s been years since the last time I played in front of them. Going back to my college days [at Syracuse], they only came up a few times and then going over to New England and COVID and everything last year, I wasn’t able to play in front of them. They weren’t able to come to the States because of border restrictions. So yeah, this was special. I wanted to play for them and try to get three points and we did that. And to get a goal was huge.”
On the amount of family and friends he had at Saturday’s match:
Buchanan: “I mean, my whole family was there. My brothers, sisters, my mom, uncles, cousins, former coaches, and teammates. I gave out about 50 tickets and I was told another 30 to 40 were bought.”
On his backflip celebration and if he ever worries about injury with the celebration:
Buchanan: “Knock on wood, I’ve always landed it, so hopefully nothing ever does happen. But yeah, it just comes to my head I guess in just a big moment I just throw it in. So that came to my head and I just went to do it.”
On playing more centrally in recent weeks:
Buchanan: “I’m becoming a lot more comfortable finding the game, moving off the ball, and just trying to find spaces to get on the ball and try to be dangerous when I’m on the field. So far, I’ve been doing that, and it’s been helpful. I’m becoming a lot more comfortable playing outside or inside.”
On grinding out another road victory:
Buchanan: “I think we all showed a lot of character today. [Toronto is] a team that’s looking for results. They’re trying to get as much points as possible when they’re at home, and they’re a great team. And yeah, the boys today, we showed a lot of fight. We stuck through it, even when they scored to tie the game up, we found that winner. So yeah, we showed a lot of about us and we’re super proud of the effort tonight.”
New England Revolution Defender Henry Kessler
On some of the keys to the team’s success this season:
Kessler: “Well the first one that comes to mind is Carles [Gil], so when we do have him it’s a big help. For the majority of last year, we didn’t. And then I think, you know, the continuity of the team. Last year was my first year, you know, the backline really getting used to each other. I think that’s been very helpful. I think we’ve been pretty solid defensively. And then I think attacking. You know, you just look at the pure numbers. Carles leads the league in assists, Gustavo [Bou] leads the league in goals now, and Adam’s right up there too. And sometimes I feel like Adam [Buksa] gets a little overlooked because he has a couple less than Gustavo, but he still has eight on the season. So attacking, I think we’ve been finding the back of the net a lot more.”
On the team’s ability to preserve one-goal leads and find ways to win close games:
Kessler: “Yeah, first of all, 13 [wins this season] sounds like a lot, so that’s good. We find ways to win. I think there was a statistic that you [Jeff Lemieux] Tweeted where we’ve won three games 3-2 and three games 1-0. No matter the scoreline, I think we’re finding ways to win. Whether it’s scoring more or keeping clean sheets, or a night like tonight which was somewhere in between, I think we’re finding the back of the net at the right time and have been decent enough defensively to keep us in games.”
On what Bruce Arena has told the team about closing hard-fought games with crucial goals in the final minutes:
Kessler: “First of all, I think we’re a pretty fit team, so, you know, late in the game I think we tend to have an advantage. That’s helped us throughout the year, as you said, with these late goals. I think our fitness is part of that. We’re never really going to get a road win, I feel, that’s more than one goal. I think it’s tough to win on the road, period. So if we get three points on the road we’re happy, even if it’s only by a goal. I think our fitness is a contributing factor to that.”
On the emotions behind silencing crowds on the road:
Kessler: “Yeah, I think it’s great. I think it’s great. It’s obviously really nice to play at home as well and have the crowd behind you, but it’s really great to silence the crowd, especially tonight. It was a good atmosphere so it felt good to get that first goal, which I think was really important. Good finish by Tajon [Buchanan], and then obviously Adam [Buksa] drawing that penalty and getting that second, Gustavo [Bou] converting it and as you said, silencing the crowd. It feels really good.”
On watching Tajon Buchanan score in his hometown with family members in the stands at BMO Field:
Kessler: “I was really happy for him. Obviously, happy for the team as well. It was a big goal, going up 1-0 and getting into halftime with a lead. You know, for him, being from Brampton, not far away, it must have been a big moment. I had the pleasure of meeting his mom afterward, you know, wonderful person. And his uncle as well. He had a lot of family here. It was nice to meet them and I’m sure this goal meant a lot to him.”
On what he’s seen from DeJuan Jones in training and in recent games:
Kessler: “I think he’s performed really well. He takes a lot of pride in his left foot, as do I. We kind of have a little competition on who’s left foot is better. He’s really worked on it. His crossing has gotten really good, as you saw today. He had a nice cut-back onto his right foot, great service. I think he’s getting forward in the attack well and he’s defending really well as well. Whether that’s, you know, contesting crosses or being ready at the back post or clearing balls, he’s done really well. I think he’ll continue to progress and he’s a really important player for us.”
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