Toronto FC picked up their first victory of the 2024 MLS campaign with a 1-0 win over the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. The victory, the club’s first in the John Herdman era, also marked the first time the Reds have recorded consecutive clean sheets to begin an MLS campaign in club history.

First Half:

A tightly-contested first half between New England Revolution and Toronto FC sparked into life courtesy of a moment of brilliance from Toronto FC’s Lorenzo Insigne. In the 27^th minute, Federico Bernardeschi’s blocked shot fell kindly into the path of Insigne, following a clever dummy from Raoul Petretta, and TFC’s No. 24 curled home a spectacular effort beyond Henrich Ravas in goal to open the scoring for the Reds in 2024.

Five minutes later, the Reds had the ball in the back of the net once again, only to be ruled out by the offside flag this time around. Insigne’s cross found Bernardeschi at the back-post, whose header back across goal was tapped home by Prince Owusu, before the assistant referee raised the offside flag to cut short the TFC celebrations.

Second Half:

The Reds made one change at the break, with Kobe Franklin replacing Insigne to begin the second half,  before former Red Mark-Anthony Kaye replaced Noel Buck to enter the action in the 61^st minute. As the half wore on, the hosts pushed forward and Toronto’s defensive resolve was tested, but Sean Johnson and the Reds’ defensive unit stood up tall to the task.

TFC debutant Nicksoen Gomis made a goal-saving tackle in the 68^th minute before Johnson rose high to deny Carles Gil’s curled effort in the 72^nd minute. Down the other end, a neat passing sequence between Jonathan Osorio, Petretta and Alonso Coello resulted in a fine, curled effort from the TFC captain hitting the crossbar in the 75^th minute.

Homegrown products Ayo Akinola and Kosi Thompson entered the action in the second half to offer John Herdman’s troops two pairs of fresh legs. With the Revs knocking on the door, the final 20 minutes of the match saw a quartet of Reds – Bernardeschi, Gomis, Johnson and Akinola – all enter the referee’s book with cautions, before goalkeeper Sean Johnson made an acrobatic, game-winning save to deny Matt Polster and the Revs a late equalizer in the 93^rd minute.

With the result, Toronto FC recorded consecutive clean sheets to begin an MLS campaign for the first time in club history and marked the club’s first back-to-back shutouts (Inter Miami CF and San Jose Earthquakes) since March 2023. The victory also marked the Reds’ first victory on the road since a 2-0 win against Charlotte FC at the Bank of America Stadium on August 27, 2022.

LINEUPS

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION – Henrich Ravas; Andrew Farrell (Nick Lima 73’), Henry Kessler, Dave Romney, DeJuan Jones (Jack Panayotou 88’); Noel Buck (Mark-Anthony Kaye 61’), Matt Polster, Esmir Bajraktarević, Carles Gil (C), Emmanuel Boateng (Nacho Gil 61’); Tomás Chancalay

Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Jonathan Mensah, Ian Harkes, Tommy McNamara, Ryan Spaulding

TORONTO FC – Sean Johnson; Shane O’Neill, Kevin Long, Nicksoen Gomis; Federico Bernardeschi, Alonso Coello, Deybi Flores, Raoul Petretta (Kosi Thompson 78’); Jonathan Osorio (C), Lorenzo Insigne (Kobe Franklin 46’), Prince Owusu (Ayo Akinola 66’)

Substitutes Not Used: Luka Gavran, Aimé Mabika, Sigurd Rosted, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Latif Blessing, Cassius Mailula

NOTABLES:

• John Herdman earned his first victory as Head Coach of Toronto FC.
• Defender Nicksoen Gomis made his Toronto FC and Major League Soccer debut.
• Lorenzo Insigne scored his first goal of the 2024 MLS campaign and the club’s first under Head Coach John Herdman.
• Toronto FC recorded consecutive clean sheets to begin an MLS campaign for the first time in club history.
• TFC and goalkeeper Sean Johnson recorded back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since consecutive shutouts against Inter Miami CF on March 18 and San Jose Earthquakes on March 25, 2023.
• Sean Johnson recorded six saves for the second consecutive MLS match, tying his previous club-high of six recorded saves against FC Cincinnati last Sunday.
• With the result, Toronto FC earned their first victory on the road since a 2-0 win against Charlotte FC at the Bank of America Stadium on August 27, 2022.

POSTMATCH SOUND CAN BE FOUND HERE