Nothing is going quite according to plan for the New England Revolution as they make their way to the locker rooms at halftime down 1-0 to their visitors, Toronto FC. Luis Silva did the damage for Toronto in a half that also injury substitutions for both sides.
Things started out bleak for the Revs in just the first minute when Stephen McCarthy went down in a heap after a head-to-head collision with a Toronto player. He was forced off and replaced in the sixth minute by Shalrie Joseph, and team officials later confirmed that McCarthy had been removed due to concussion-like symptoms.
It didn't take long for Toronto to exploit the injury as Luis Silva played a brilliant one-two with Danny Koevermans and finished a clear chance to take the lead in the eighth minute. The understanding between Joseph and the rest of the back line has looked tenuous at best, and Koevermans nearly took advantage of Joseph again when he had him beat for pace in the 14th minute, but his shot flew wide when he should have scored.
Ryan Johnson forced a save out of Bobby Shuttleworth in the 28th minute, bringing the young keeper low to his near post, but other than that both teams have demonstrated difficulty finding the final ball. Uncharacteristically for the Revs, the home side registered just one shot on target in the first half.
It wasn't all roses for Toronto, though. Danny Koevermans went down in the box under a clean challenge from A.J. Soares, but the Dutch striker appeared to injure his knee (or lower leg) on the play, as well as taking an errant cleat to the forehead that caused bleeding.
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