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Toronto FC 0 – 2 Columbus Crew
The Prelude to Battle
Coming off a loss in which they dominated the Seattle Sounders everywhere but on the scoreboard, Toronto FC arrived at Columbus Crew Stadium on Saturday with a healthy squad outside of striker Danny Koevermans. With the Reds and the Crew splitting the first two league fixtures of the 2013 campaign, the winner of Saturday’s match would come away with the Trillium Cup trophy.
TFC Head Coach Ryan Nelsen made two changes to his starting eleven, with Robert Earnshaw replacing Andrew Wiedeman and Spanish winger Alvaro Rey making his first MLS start in place of Reggie Lambe.
The Opening 45
The first half was one that was dominated by a Crew side that looked much more in tune and cohesive than a Toronto squad that looked almost completely out of sorts.
Columbus opened the scoring in the 19th minute when TFC keeper Joe Bendik made an outstanding initial save on midfielder Bernardo Anor but then saw Crew main man Federico Higuain pounce on the rebound and put it in the back of the TFC net.
The Crew continued to dominate possession throughout the opening forty-five, as Toronto struggled to generate any significant scoring chances.
Bendik, who was the difference between Toronto going down more than one in the half, came up particularly big in the 34th minute when he blocked a powerful shot from in close by Dominic Oduro.
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I, fortunately, was unable to watch #TFClive tonight. #getusedtoit
– @sidvan |
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The Second Half
The Crew continued to dominate in the second, with Bendik continuing to stand on his head in order to keep Toronto in the match.
Columbus came within inches of doubling their lead in the 49th minute when Oduro delivered a dangerous shot just wide of the far post. Four minutes later, Bendik came up big again when he stoned Oduro from in close.
In the 61st minute, Oduro looked dangerous once again with his blistering pace, but his poor touch snuffed out the chance for Columbus.
Recently signed Argentine striker Maximiliano Urruti came on in the 67th minute and made his MLS debut. However, it would be another Argentinian player who would deliver some magic two minutes later, with Higuain using a world class chip shot to beat Bendik, give Columbus a commanding lead and sealing the 2013 Trillium Cup trophy.
The Final Word: Everyone but Bendik struggles in an off night for TFC
This one was pretty much a match in which the entire TFC squad struggled, with the notable exception of keeper Joe Bendik. Toronto never really got into second gear and struggled in all aspects of the match, as the back line had a hard time dealing with the quality of Federico Higuain and Dominic Oduro and the Reds midfield having a rare performance in which they were dominated by the opposition. Up front, Toronto continued to struggle to generate any scoring chances, even with Robert Earnshaw back in the starting eleven.
Many times this season it has been a case where Toronto has played well enough to come away with a point or three, but ultimately saw either bad luck, bad calls by the referee, defensive breakdowns or poor finishing hijack overall decent performances. That was not the case against Columbus on this night. TFC were completely outplayed by the Crew and looked tired and disjointed for the entirety of the game.
In every less than winning effort this season there have always been multiples positives that TFC supporters could latch onto as they evaluated the progress of Toronto’s rebuilding effort under Ryan Nelsen and Kevin Payne. However, outside of the fine play of Bendik, there really aren’t any significant positives to take away from the game if you are a TFC fan. Even consistent performers such as Matias Laba and Jonathan Osorio had rough nights at the office.
That said, teams have off nights, especially on the road in MLS. So this result should not be a major cause for concern, as it could be nothing more than a blip.
Given the youthful nature of Toronto’s squad, it will be interesting to see how the Reds respond to this loss when they face off against D.C. United on the road next weekend.
Toronto FC Lineup
12 Joe Bendik
27 Richard Eckersley
13 Steven Caldwell
4 Doneil Henry
5 Ashtone Morgan
20 Matias Laba
21 Jonathan Osorio
15 Bobby Convey
23 Alvaro Rey
22 Jeremy Brockie
10 Robert Earnshaw
Substitutions: Reggie Lambe in for Alvaro Rey (56’); Maximiliano Urruti in for Robert Earnshaw (67’); Jeremy Hall in for Matias Laba (79’).
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