Insigne misses penalty as Toronto FC plays to goalless draw with New England Revolution
Brown scores late to lift Whitecaps to road tie with Nashville SC
Toronto FC picked up a rare point on the road with a 0-0 draw against the New England Revolution in MLS play Saturday, but were denied the win when Djordje Petrovic stopped Italian star Lorenzo Insigne from the penalty spot in the 81st minute.
Toronto (6-12-5) remains winless away from home in league play this season (0-7-4), with just four points out of a possible 33. On a positive note, it was a second straight clean sheet for Toronto which ended a string of 29 league games without a shutout when it blanked visiting Charlotte 4-0 last Saturday.
New England (6-7-9) saw its winless run grow to six (0-2-4) while extending its unbeaten run at home to eight games (3-0-5). The Revs last went six or more consecutive matches (0-6-3) without a victory from July to September 2018 under former coach Brad Friedel.
WATCH l Toronto FC picks up rare point on the road:
Referee Ismir Pekmic pointed to the penalty spot in the 75th minute after Toronto substitute Deandre Kerr went down as Matt Polster challenged for the ball just inside the box. Insigne waited to take the kick as Canadian video assistant referee Carol Anne Chenard checked the play.
Pekmic was summoned to the pitch-side monitor but did not change his mind, much to New England's displeasure.
Whitecaps settle for tie with Nashville SC
Javain Brown scored in the 87th minute to allow the Vancouver Whitecaps to post a 1-1 draw with host Nashville SC on Saturday night.
The Whitecaps are 0-2-3 in their last five matches, but they're unbeaten (1-0-3) in their last four road contests. They managed a point after this week's triumph over Toronto FC for the Canadian Championship Voyageurs Cup — while also playing without injured leading scorer Lucas Cavallini (quad).
Meanwhile, Teal Bunbury scored in a second straight match for Nashville (8-7-8, 32 points), which had a brilliant chance in the final moments when Luke Haakenson's point-blank chance was stopped by Vancouver goalkeeper Cody Cropper.
Hany Mukhtar then missed high for Nashville, which has not won in three games (0-1-2).
WATCH l Brown scores late to lift Whitecaps to road tie with Nashville SC:
From the get-go, it seemed only a matter of time before Nashville opened the night's scoring. The home side pressed and pressed, and was ultimately rewarded via Bunbury in the 17th minute.
The goal was set up via Mukhtar, who returned after missing the club's previous contest, after a Whitecaps' turnover in their own end.
Vancouver woke up its offense in the 28th minute when Brian White's shot was pushed away by a diving Willis, who then got a hand on Gauld's ball a minute later. However, the Whitecaps went to halftime down 1-0.
The Whitecaps got a prime chance on the hour mark from Cristian Dajome, but Willis snagged the point-blank attempt. Vancouver continued to press as the second half wore on, and was ultimately rewarded through Brown's heroics.
Right back Shaq Moore, a defender on the U.S. Men's National Team, made his MLS debut in a starting role for Nashville SC on Saturday. He was acquired on July 19.
CF Montreal, New York City FC stingy in 0-0 draw
Defence dominated in a battle of two high-powered offences on Saturday as CF Montreal and New York City FC played to a scoreless draw at Stade Saputo.
For two of the five highest-scoring teams in Major League Soccer, the first half was remarkably prudent.
Montreal (11-8-3) enjoyed the lion's share of the possession with New York (12-4-6) seemingly more than happy to sit in a low block and wait for a counterattack.
It took another 30 minutes for a second chance to manifest. Lassi Lappalainen found himself in open space and cut the ball back to Djordje Mihailovic who forced a great leg save from New York keeper Sean Johnson.
Montreal started the second half with the same ball dominance, controlling the pace and looking to get Romell Quioto in behind the New York backline.
WATCH l CF Montreal, New York City FC unable to score:
At the 55th minute, the finally got their chance. Quioto was played in and squared it for Mason Toye who couldn't convert, skying the point-blank shot.
New York was perfectly content to see out the rest of the game by shutting the door defensively and letting Montreal pass around the defence, doing little to threaten the stalemate.
The crowd also observed a moment of silence before the start of the game, honouring former player and assistant coach Jason Di Tullio who died on Friday.
Both Montreal and New York will now travel to Lower.com Field and take on the Columbus Crew on Aug. 3 and Aug. 6, respectively.
With files from Field Level Media
