By Christopher Shaban
Staff Writer
FOXBORO, Mass. — A rocket off the foot of Adam Buksa in stoppage time had eyes for the back of the net as the Revolution looked to extend their home unbeaten streak to six games. FC Toronto’s Alex Bono came off his line to get a piece of Buksa’s shot to preserve the win after a tenacious Revolution comeback.
Severe weather caused the game to be delayed 87 minutes and when the teams took the field, the visitors played like they were shooting downhill and grabbed a 3-0 lead at the break barely halfway into the first 45 minutes. The back third of the NE had a horrible half pushing the Revolution into a huge hole. Yeferson Soteldo, Kemar Lawrence, and Tsubasah Endoh all found the back of the net for the visitors in a 15 minute span as Brad Knighton got his first start in net since March of 2020 for NE while Matt Turner brought his talents to the Concacaf Gold Cup for the United States national team.
“That’s fast to go down three goals,” said Revolution head coach Bruce Arena. “Bad mistake that led to the first goal, and brought a team that’s been struggling into the game and gave them confidence. You can’t concede goals like that.”
The Revs looked to slice into the lead as rips off the feet of Buksta and Gustavo Bou clanked off the supports as the first 45 minutes came to a close and gave the hometown crowd a bit to cheer about.
Whatever Revolution head coach Arena said at halftime lit a fire under the Rev as they came out of the stepped on the pitch a different squad.
“There were some good things, but the first 30 minutes is inexcusable,” said Arena after the game. “We played well over the final 60 minutes and came close to grabbing a point but Bosa made a great save at the end.”
Charles Gil would get the Revs on the board when he sailed a free kick into the twine at the 56th minute as the Fort came to life. That spark was just what the crowd was looking for as they endured a long delay under the cover of the concourse while the lightning storm passed earlier in the evening. Buksta was goal hunting as the Polish striker from Krakow found himself in the blender as a header was just wide with FCT defenders marking him hard as he would place eight hits on target on the night. Buksta would eventually rip the net at the 78th minute mark drawing the score down to a single goal 3-2. As Bono retrieved the ball, he ended up being tangled in the net as the Revs were looking to keep play moving quickly as things began to get testy with a bit of shoving taking place. Yellow cards were being dished out like trick or treat candy as FCT began to stall the match.
The 6 minutes of stoppage time was just the recipe for a New England goal as Edward Kizza, Brandon Bye and Arnor Ingvi Traustason all crashed the goal box looking for the equalizer. The game would be decided by Bono as he came off his line to stuff a Buksta bid from 10 yards out as the Revs suffered their first home loss of the year.
The Revolution will have 10 days to lick their wounds as they will head to Atlanta next Saturday for a nationally televised game on ESPN.
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