Maybe it was the early start, the good standing of both teams, or just the fact that a more reserved match was a virtual surety after the the Reds’ most recent clash with Montreal, but Toronto FC’s meeting with the New England Revolution was a somewhat by the numbers affair.
In that vein, the entire first half was rather genteel, which is a nice way of saying it was quite slow. TFC came out strong, but New England quickly adapted and took away some of their verve. In particular, they were focusing their efforts on shutting down Michael Bradley in the middle.