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After enduring a difficult 4-1 defeat away to Sporting Kansas City last weekend, Toronto were back in action and looking for redemption as they faced off against the Chicago Fire at BMO Field on Saturday. With TFC now set to play five of their next seven matches at home, the Reds were likely also looking at this match as a prime opportunity to solidify their spot in the playoff race and reestablish their home pitch as Fortress BMO.
Toronto FC Head Coach Ryan Nelsen saw his starting eleven receive a significant boost as three key players – Jermain Defoe, Steven Caldwell and Mark Bloom – returned from injury and got the nod to start against the Fire.
The Opening 45
Toronto came out of the gate in this one looking very much like a side intent on delivering a tour de force performance after a tough night last weekend.
It did not take long for Toronto to see the fruits of their labour. In the 3rd minute, a great pass by Jonathan Osorio freed up Justin Morrow to deliver a cross that was ultimately headed into the back of the Fire net by Bakary Soumare for an own goal.
The Reds came close to doubling their lead on the break two minutes later, but Fire keeper Sean Johnson came up with a big save while pushing away a blistering shot by Gilberto.
In one piece of disconcerting news for Reds fans, TFC captain Steven Caldwell did not last long in his first game back from injury and had to be subbed off in the 23rd minute.
The Second Half
Toronto’s back line woes worsened in the 58th minute when Justin Morrow pulled up lame with an injury that looked like it could keep him out of action for some time, with the ever unpredictable Jackson coming on his place.
After a getting a nice round of applause from the BMO Field faithful, Robert Earnshaw became the latest in a long line of former TFC players to come back and burn their former club, with Grant Ward delivering a cross that Earnshaw headed past Joe Bendik to even things up at 1-1 in the 70th minute.
TFC bounced back nicely in the 79th minute when Luke Moore delivered an excellent ball to send Gilberto in on goal, with the Brazilian cooly beating keeper Sean Johnson and depositing the ball into the open net.
Just when it looked like Toronto was going to pull out all three points, another former TFC player, Quincy Amarikwa, caught the Reds back line napping when he hammered home the equalizer from the far post on a cross from Lovel Palmer.
While Toronto picked up a point, overall this was another disappointing result at home for a squad that was once again less than the sum of its parts. To add injury to insult, Toronto saw two of their three most important defenders exit this game with injuries.
Man of the Match
Gilberto
The Brazilian striker once again showed a terrific work rate and his second half goal had game winner written all over it. Interestingly, it was not surprising that his goal came almost immediately after Jermain Defoe had been subbed off. With Gilberto now heating up, it will be interesting to see if Head Coach Ryan Nelsen can find an approach in which both his DP strikers play effectively while they are on the pitch at the same.
Honourable mention
Jonathan Osorio continued his run of impressive form with another rock solid game. With his work rate, technical ability and athleticism, the Canadian International has melded well with Michael Bradley and Collen Warner in the midfield and he is generally a player that makes his teammates better with his smart play and quality touch on the ball.
Toronto FC Line-up
12 Joe Bendik
2 Justin Morrow
15 Steven Caldwell
17 Nick Hagglund
28 Mark Bloom
21 Jonathan Osorio
18 Collen Warner
4 Michael Bradley
23 Dominic Oduro
18 Jermain Defoe
9 Gilberto
Substitutions: Henry for Caldwell (22); Jackson for Morrow (58); Moore for Defoe (76).
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