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Posted by
Steve Bottjer,
May 23, 2015 |
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Steve Bottjer
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@BottjerRNO
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Fresh off of a comeback draw on the road against New England, Toronto FC were back home on Saturday for an early evening fixture against the Portland Timbers. With Jozy Altidore out with a hamstring injury, TFC Head Coach Greg Vanney had a major hole in his offense to fill as the Reds faced off against a Portland Timbers side sitting in 9th place in the Western Conference standings.
Vanney made two changes to starting eleven with Luke Moore starting in place of Altidore and Eriq Zavaleta getting the start in central defense in place of Nick Hagglund. Canadian International Ashtone Morgan continued to his run of starting assignments and was honoured prior to the match for becoming the first player in club history to make 100 appearances.
Canadian International and Timbers captain Will Johnson started this game on the bench as he returned to active duty for Portland following a serious suffered in Toronto at the tail end of the 2014 MLS campaign.
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The Opening 45
In one of the strangest halves in Toronto FC, BMO Field was so eerily quiet as the match kicked off that you could hear a pin drop, with TFC supporters wearing black and refraining from cheering to protest the announcement earlier in the week that the Toronto Argonauts would be moving into BMO Field as co-tenants starting in 2016.
Strangely, the lack of enthusiasm from the legitimately aggrieved TFC supporters did not seem to dampen the play of the Toronto FC players, as Sebastian Giovinco put on an absolute clinic as he dominated the Timbers back line for the entirety of the first half.
Giovinco gave Toronto the lead in the 5th minute with a ridiculous shot from 20 yards out that beat Timbers keeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey and brought TFC supporters to their feet, at least temporarily.
The Atomic Ant continued to run rampant and came close multiple times to doubling Toronto’s lead as both a goalscoring threat and provider.
Toronto’s best chance to double their lead came in the 26th lead when Giovinco used magical dribbling to get past his defender and unleash a shot that beat Larsen Kwarasey but unfortunately also hit his own player Jonathan Osorio.
The Second Half
Toronto continued to dominate the run of play through the second half, with the Reds generating many decent scoring chances but unable to find the final finish to put the game to bed.
In the 57th minute, Reds fullback Morrow made an excellent run down the flank and saw his shot sail just over the crossbar.
Toronto came close again in the 80th minute when Damien Perquis sent Warren Creavalle in on goal, with TFC midfielder testing the Portland keeper with a strike from the top of the box that Larsen Kwarasey did well to push t safety.
While Toronto were unable to put a second past Larsen Kwarasey, they nonetheless avoiding the TFC curse of seeing an ex-player score a late winner or equalizer, as Toronto ultimately earned their first league victory of 2015 at home.
Overall, despite the dazzle and class of Giovinco, Toronto were lucky to finish this one with all three points. A questionable decision by the referee to not award a penalty to Portland saved TFC from seeing Vanney’s squad burned by their inability to score more than one goal.
Man of the Match
Giovinco
In arguably one of the best ever performances by a TFC player at BMO Field, Giovinco was a legitimate wrecking crew, with the 1-0 scoreline not reflecting his magical attacking prowess in this game. The Atomic Ant delivered a world class performance in which he dazzled and delivered excellent entertainment value while propelling his team to victory.
Outside of the Italian International, there were plenty of solid performances from Toronto, with Bradley and Cheyrou having fine games in the midfield and both Creavalle and Collen Warner delivering exceptional 45 minute runs of play. Keeper Chris Konopka also had another solid game as he looked to keep the starting keeper position as his own even when Joe Bendik returns to full fitness.
Toronto FC Line-up
1 Chris Konopka
38 Justin Morrow
24 Damien Perquis
15 Eriq Zavaleta
2 Ashtone Morgan
4 Michael Bradley
8 Benoit Cheyrou
26 Collen Warner
21 Jonathan Osorio
10 Sebastian Giovinco
27 Luke Moore
Substitutions: Warren Creavalle for Collen Warner (46); Jackson for Luke Moore (64); Nick Hagglund for Jonathan Osorio (83).
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