On Saturday, Lorenzo Insigne missed a golden opportunity to score his first goal for his new club Toronto FC. The Reds were awarded a penalty kick in the 76th minute after an intricate exchange between Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Jonathan Osorio, Insigne and Deandre Kerr.
Insigne stepped up to the spot but was stopped by New England goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović. Though Petrović guessed correctly, the shot was poorly struck, lacking both power and accuracy. Perhaps justice had been served, as the VAR review clearly showed that Kerr kicked the back of the leg of Matt Polster after Polster got a touch on the ball.
Petrović had Insigne’s number on the night. Just before the break, Federico Bernardeschi slipped the ball through to Insigne on the right side of the area. Petrović made himself big and stopped the shot taken from just outside the six yard box.
Insigne tested Petrović again in the 72nd minute. Il Magnifico went for goal from about 25 yards out. The shot was destined for the top corner but once again Petrović made an excellent save.
Bernardeschi did not have much luck either. In the 58th minute his powerful strike from distance crashed off the upright and stayed out.
With the draw, Toronto extended its winless streak away from home to 11 matches, but coach Bob Bradley was encouraged by the performance.
“I think that the team’s going in a good direction. It’s never an easy game here [in Massachusetts]. I thought the mentality of the team was good. I thought we raised our level in the second half and that’s important. You hope that when you do those things and you create some chances, especially a penalty, that you take three points. So we gotta keep going on that end but there were positives.”
With Cincinnati’s draw against Inter Miami, the Reds remained six points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Toronto will be back in action on August 6th to take on Nashville SC.
