Revs keep cookin’ at home
FOXBORO — Home sweet home.
The Revolution got goals from Benjamin Angoua, Diego Fagundez and Juan Agudelo to remain unbeaten at Gillette Stadium with a 3-0 blasting of Eastern Conference leader Toronto FC last night in front of a season-high 21,764 fans last night.
The win pushed the Revs to 5-0-2 at home, evening up their overall record at 5-5-5.
Agudelo, who came on for forward Kei Kamara in the 61st minute, reached 5,000 minutes as a Revolution player and celebrated by setting up the key second goal and capping the win with a goal of his own five minutes from time.
In the 65th minute, Agudelo and Fagundez immediately worked a neat give-and-go but Toronto keeper Alexander Bono came out to foil the chance. But the Revs duo had just started. Less than a minute later, Fagundez passed ahead to Agudelo atop the box. Agudelo held the ball and then pushed a pass to Fagundez entering the fray. Fagundez took a touch and then drilled a right-footed blast into the left side of the net in the 66th minute for his fourth goal this season to make it 2-0.
“Between me and Juan, the chemistry is there. It’s been there since the first time he showed up. I try to get balls to him and he tries to get balls to me. It’s always nice,” said Fagundez.
Agudelo, working his way back from an upper body injury, displayed his best form last night.
“I thought he came through tonight,” said Revs coach Jay Heaps. “His first two or three touches were great. That first one with Diego he realized he wasn’t going to beat the player and cut it back. He’s really a good soccer player.”
The Revs held Toronto star forward Sebastian Giovinco off the scoreboard, with just two shots on target.
“The guys buckled down. It was a lot of hard work. It was a great team effort,” said defender Chris Tierney.
The Revs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute. Lee Nguyen’s left wing corner kick found Benjamin Angoua unmarked near the penalty spot, and the defender powered a vicious header past the fruitless dive of Bono. It was Angoua’s first MLS goal, while Nguyen now has posted a point in seven of his last eight games.
“Obviously when it comes off like that it’s ideal,” said Nguyen, who admitted he was aiming for Fagundez at the far post.
The visitors came close to the equalizer in the 34th minute when midfielder Armando Cooper drilled a 35-yard rocket off the crossbar. At the other end, Kelyn Rowe had a goal flagged offside for the second time in the opening 45 minutes.
“The first half was like two heavyweight fighters throwing hay-makers. As coaches it was very nerveracking,” said Heaps, who felt the second Rowe goal was clearly onside. “We talked at halftime and said, ‘OK, let’s re-set.’ The second half was very professional.”
Fagundez helped Heaps breathe easier with his second-half tally. He should’ve had a second in the 85th, when Agudelo crossed to the open Leominster product for a tap-in. But Fagundez’ shot clanged high off the crossbar, bounced on the bar again and came down thankfully for Agudelo to head home to complete the rout of Toronto (8-2-5).