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Posted by
Cormac McGee,
July 5, 2015 |
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Cormac McGee
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Anyone who continues to support Toronto FC must have a selective memory. This will come in handy today as last night’s game against the Los Angeles Galaxy was one to forget. TFC rolled into LA coming off two stellar games against Montreal and D.C. United. But the Galaxy have always proved trouble for the Reds. To remember Toronto’s last league victory against LA, you have to go all the way back to 2008.
Last night shone a spotlight on Toronto’s lack of depth in the squad. Both teams had gaps to fill as players were summoned for international duty, with TFC were missing four, including Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore. But as LA seemed to not miss a step, the Reds looked lost, especially in the midfield. It was rare to see passes being strung together from defenders through the midfield and to up top. Instead, balls were launched over the heads of Sebastian Giovinco and Robbie Findley to chase.
The majority of LA’s four goals can be traced back to egregious mental errors, but it was the inability to string more than a couple of passes together and the lack of imagination going forward that hurt the Reds tonight — two aspects of the game that are almost expected from this team today.
The Opening 45
It took just 10 minutes for LA to strike. A quick turn by Sebastian Lletget left Damien Perquis standing at the top of the 18 yard box with his hands in the air trying to just not take Lletget down. But Perquis’s efforts were futile as Warren Creavalle slightly clipped the heels of the former West Ham midfielder, just enough to send Lletget to the ground, pumping his fists as soon as he heard the referee’s whistle. On the spot Robbie Keane calmly fired it into the top right hand corner as Konopka dove the other way.
A few minutes later Eriq Zavaleta gifted Juninho a pass right to his feet just inside Toronto’s half. The ensuing counterattack saw Keane find Jose Villareal through the middle of TFC’s backline, with the American’s strike just being clipped wide by a sliding Perquis.
The Reds had trouble catching up to LA’s pace. They struggled to keep the ball and had four offsides called against them within the first 20 minutes. But just before the half hour mark, Toronto got their first good chance. Findley tracked the play deep into his own corner and went to ground to strip the Galaxy attacker of the ball. This started Toronto’s first threatening counter attack, with Giovinco taking three defenders with him down to left side for net before playing bobbling ball out to Cheyrou near the penalty spot, whose shot gets tipped high by sprawling Dan Gargan. This effort was typical of Findley’s night, having to either drop deep into his own half to get the ball or chase long passes over his head.
Just before half, the Galaxy struck back. Stefan Ishazaki threaded a pass through Zavaleta and Justin Morrow to a streaking Baggio Husidic down the right slide of the penalty area, who put a one timer straight across the six yard box to who else, but Keane. And he’s not going to miss from there. It was the worst start and finish to a half possible for Toronto FC.
The Second Half
It started off promising for TFC. A Giovinco free kick just outside the box in the 47th minute hit the wall, but found it’s way back to the Italian’s foot. From there it was a graceful chip over everyone to the foot of Marco Delgado to the right of the penalty spot, but a poor short side attempt let Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Rowe push the shot away for a corner.
The Reds would have a couple more chances over the next few minutes, including a through ball to Findley that was cut out by Rowe just in time and a whiffed strike from Giovinco 12 yards out.
But LA were content to just hold their lead, and were moving the ball well, causing TFC to chase them. And when Toronto did manage to grab the ball, there were rarely close outlets available, causing numerous long balls to no man’s land.
Then, as the clock struck an hour, Keane intercepted a weak backpass from Morrow, pushed it by Konopka and passed it into the net for his hat trick. If there was a mercy rule, Konopka may have asked to enact it, as he was hung out to dry by his teammates for the third time.
Much of the last half hour showcased TFC’s inability to come up with an offensive strategy that didn’t involve Giovinco trying to dribble through multiple defenders. As the Galaxy closed down almost everything in the middle of the park, Toronto took to lobbing crosses into the box in hope that something would get poked in the net. But Findley and Giovinco were always outnumbered and outmatched physically in the air.
Four minutes into stoppage time, Lletget put an unnecessary final nail in the coffin, collecting a pass from Ignacio Magnanto and firing it short side over Konopka’s flailing arm.
Man of the Match
There was nobody in red tonight that can be singled out as a star. While there were some notable hustlers — including Findley and Perquis — nobody produced anything but near-misses at best. As much as LA’s goals were caused by single errors and not total domination, it was a game where each error was magnified, because they were the only plays that stood out.
Toronto FC Line-up
1 Chris Konopka
2 Justin Morrow
15 Eriq Zavaleta
24 Damien Perquis
3 Warren Creavalle
26 Collen Warner
14 Jay Chapman
8 Benoit Cheyrou
18 Marco Delgado
10 Sebastian Giovinco
55 Robbie Findley
Substitutions: Daniel Lovitz for Chapman (70); Jackson for Creavalle (70), Jordan Hamilton for Findley (86).
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