New England Revolution goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic denied Lorenzo Insigne on a penalty kick to help preserve a 0-0 tie with the visiting Toronto FC on Saturday night.
The draw extended New England’s (6-7-9, 27 points) home unbeaten streak to eight games.
In the 76th minute, referee Ismir Pekmic gave Toronto (6-12-5, 23 points) a penalty before he was sent to the monitor to review the call. The controversy arose when he upheld the call on the field despite VAR.
Insigne stepped up, but Petrovic fully extended to his right to deny the low shot heading for the bottom corner. Petrovic ended the night with three big saves for the shutout.
Giacomo Vrioni made his home debut for the Revolution via second-half substitution and had a chance to win the game for the hosts in second-half stoppage time. Arnor Traustason sent a low cross skittering in front of the Toronto goal, but Vrioni couldn’t quite make enough contact for the game-winner.
The Revolution felt like they had a second bone to pick with the referee at the very end of the game.
Carles Gil appeared to be hauled down in the final seconds of stoppage time after getting past a defender. The referee let play continue for a few moments before blowing the whistle and was quickly surrounded by irate players.
The penalty save wasn’t the first time Petrovic came up big to deny Insigne. In the dying moments of the first half, Petrovic came off his line and made himself big to redirect Insigne’s shot wide.
The Revolution carried the play through large stretches of the first half with over 56 percent possession, but Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono made two key saves to keep the hosts off the board.
Those two saves were the only ones Bono had to make in the game, and it was enough for him to earn a clean sheet.
–Field Level Media
