The Master Bruce Arena almost pulled off the improbable on The Apprentice Bob Bradley at BMO Field on Wednesday night.
Arena's New England Revolution, after winning the Supporters' Shield last year, found themselves just beneath the Eastern Conference playoff line and four points above Bradley's Toronto FC heading into Wednesday night's showdown.
TFC has been surging up the standings since the arrival of its Italian stars, and it was the lively Federico Bernardeschi who gave the home side the advantage from the spot in the 31st minute.
But the Revs responded through 31-year-old American midfielder Tommy McNamara and former U.S. U-20 standout Justin Rennicks to take the lead, while Lorenzo Insigne was kept quiet the whole night. Arena's genius seemed confirmed when he sent on the 17-year-old duo of Noel Buck and Esmir Bajraktarevic in the 68th.
However, with 15 minutes to go, Michael Bradley lobbed one at TFC's third Azzurri brother, Domenico Criscito. The Genoa legend is 35 now, but class is permanent.
Domenico Criscito ties it up with a BANG.
Wow, just wow. #TFCLive pic.twitter.com/E5yvHotjXW— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 18, 2022
The match would end 2-2, which is a much better point for the Revs at this stage of the season. Toronto still has eight games remaining but only three of them are at BMO Field.
