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Posted by
Mat Rooney,
May 1, 2016 |
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Mat Rooney
On Twitter:
@Canucks_Abroad
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Toronto rolled into Portland with back-to-back wins and former Timbre Will Johnson hoping to collect 3 points from the defending champions. Despite a great number of chances and an overall strong performance, the Reds were downed by Portland in front of an active and passionate crowd at Providence Park, as Jake Gleeson put on what could be one of the strongest goalkeeping performance of the year.
All in all, the pint glass is half full.
The Opening 45
Toronto got off to a slow start and paid the price when Fanendo Adi ended Clint Irwin's shut out streak in the 17th minute. Toronto and Portland were relatively evenly matched after that until Toronto's breaking out in the last 10 minutes. Portland did a good job keeping Toronto off target until the 40th minute when Canadian Will Johnson scored his first goal in a Toronto uniform with Sebastian Giovinco getting his 3rd assist of the season. The goal came with some controversy as Drew Moor hand might have made contact with the ball prior.
Despite Toronto's late control, Portland managed to prevent Toronto from gaining any substantial momentum keeping it anyone's game.
The Second Half
If the first half was entertaining soccer, then the second was the sport's equivalent to “Frisky Dingo”, it was energetic, exciting and confusing. Despite being dominate for most of the half, Toronto were unable to find the back of the net with “sure thing” attempts by Moor, Bradley, Johnson and Altidore, all being shut down by Jake Gleeson and a scary Giovinco moment after minor contact with Liam Ridgewell ended in a deafening 2-minute long chant of “diver” from the high energy Portland crowd. Moments later, Giovinco launched a shot into Ridgewell's head. Adi's chance for a second goal, which again looked like a “sure thing”, went wide and in the dying minutes, there was some confusion as multiple balls ended up on the pitch.
Despite the surrealness and Toronto's attack, Gleeson's unbeatable keeping and Portland's backline held the Reds back and Diego Valeri rewarded them by scoring on a free kick in the 74th minute, securing the victory for the Timbres.
Toronto ended their season road trip with 11 points, 3 more than they were aiming for.
Man of the Match
Will Johnson
Johnson put on another strong performance for the Reds. In addition to his first goal of the season, Johnson had 2 additional shots, including one of Toronto's best second half chances, and put on a strong defensive performance as well.
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