A brace from Charlie Davies has guided the New England Revolution to a 3-1 victory over 10-man Toronto in their MLS clash at Gillette Stadium.

The contest exploded into life on 35 minutes following a relatively tentative start from both sides when Davies tapped home from one yard out.

The opener proved to be the first in a trilogy of low points for Toronto in the minutes leading up to the half-time whistle.

Then, things went from bad to worse for the Canadian side when Jozy Altidore was given a straight red card for kicking out at Jose Goncalves on the ground.

It was two shortly before the break as Damien Perquis fouled Kelyn Rowe in the area, and Lee Nguyen stepped up to bury the penalty to give 10-man Toronto a mountain to climb in the second half.

In the second half, Davies almost added his second goal of the game when he latched on to a cross from Rowe, but his effort was saved by Joe Bendik.

Diego Fagundez almost unlocked the Toronto defence when he raided to the edge of the box and fired a low strike towards the bottom corner, but Bendik made an impressive diving stop.

Davies did notch his second strike of the match when he turned the ball in from close range after Fagundez's free kick was deflected into his path in front of goal.

Toronto got a goal back when Jonathan Osorio weaved his way through two Revolution defenders and buried his effort beyond the reach of Bobby Shuttleworth.

New England tried to restore their three-goal advantage before the full-time whistle, but Juan Agudelo's over-head kick sailed inches past the post.