The top two American goalkeepers at this summer’s World Cup were the stars on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, as the Revolution’s Matt Turner and New York City FC’s Matt Freese combined for nine saves in a 1-1 draw.
A sleepy opening 20 minutes gave way to a highlight-laden end of the first half, with Dor Turgeman putting the Revolution (10-7-4, 34 points) ahead in the 36th minute and James Sands answering for NYCFC (7-8-6, 27 points) 20 seconds into stoppage time.
Each team had ample chances to add goals, but were denied by two of MLS’s best. Freese, who usurped Turner as the national team starter from the 2022 Cup, shone brighter in the matinee — his five-save afternoon including a pair on a first-half Carles Gil penalty attempt.
Turner was similarly tested, and got an assist from the post on a Talles Magno header late in the first half, but finished with four stops.
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It was an even match between the rivals, but one that featured plenty of momentum swings. Sands — twin brother of Revolution defender Will Sands — was at the center of all the biggest ones.
The Revolution looked poised to take the lead when Peyton Miller, who menaced New York City up the left side repeatedly, drew a 25th-minute penalty when James Sands cut down his run. But Gil was denied by Freese — first on a full extension dive to the goalkeeper’s left, then sprawling to his right when Gil tried to score on the rebound.
Gil, who leads New England with seven goals, had converted all 17 of his penalty attempts in league play since the start of the 2021 season.
James Sands made his own stop in the 33rd minute, sliding to kick another Miller shot off the goal line. The Connecticut teen had run onto a Gil pass and chipped over a sliding Freese, only for Sands to race in for a last-second save.
Turgeman’s fifth goal of the season came three minutes later. Jack Harrison, playing against his former team, created space on the right side and lobbed across the goal, where Miller popped the ball back in front and Turgeman chopped it in with his left foot.
Harrison has assisted on all five Revolution goals in his four matches since signing last month.
The consistent New England pressure then led New York coach Pascal Jansen to make a pair of first-half defensive substitutions. Though Miller soon broke in on another dangerous attempt — Freese stuffed a poor Turgeman effort in the 42nd minute — the momentum turned.
The match was square moments later off a corner kick, when Magno — credited with a team-high four shots — found James Sands as he broke from a goal-front scrum.
“Especially in the first half, in terms of creating, we had a lot of great situations where it’s 1-0 and then [if] you score a second goal, it’s a very different game,” coach Marko Mitrovic said. “I think outside of that situation in additional time when they created two corner kicks, I felt that we had the game fully in our control.”
New York had lost its last four matches across all competitions. The Revolution, meanwhile, are 2-2-2 at home since winning their first six matches of the season in Foxborough.
New England remains fourth in the Eastern Conference, but plays its next four matches away from home. That run begins Saturday night at 14th-place Columbus.
Jon Couture can be reached at jonathan.couture@globe.com.