Toronto FC 5 – 1 CD Aguila
The Prelude to Battle
Toronto FC kick off their 2012 CONCACAF Champions League competition with a matchup against El Salvadoran champions CD Aguila, and with Paul Mariner looking to start this campaign off with a win, Toronto FC will hope to shake off their disappointing 2-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo and focus on getting the result.
Mariner is holding nothing back either, playing a full starting lineup, including the already established Henry-Eckersley-Emory-Morgan backline and starting Luis Silva up front alongside Ryan Johnson, with Reggie Lambe and Andrew Wiedeman playing out wide.
The last time around, Toronto FC made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Champions League, and will look to replicate those results in 2012-2013. That all starts with this game against CD Aguila.
The Opening Forty-Five
Toronto FC started off the clearly superior side, notching a “goal” in the 6th minute which was judged by the officials as being offside. CD Aguila had plenty of support in the stands but looked unable to connect well on the field. Toronto FC controlled much of the first half, in both possession and chances.
It did not take Toronto FC long to find the first goal, with Torsten Frings’ corner flying right to the head of Luis Silva, who nodded it towards the side-netting and into the goal. Toronto FC went up 1-0 over CD Aguila.
Doneil Henry made his presence felt early as well, making strong, overlapping runs and giving support to Reggie Lambe, all the while keeping his defensive responsibilities in check and tracking back. It was Luis Silva, however, who found Lambe for a goal, when he slipped the ball onto the rushing winger before Lambe slotted it home in the 17th minute.
The rest of the half looked much like a passing drill for Toronto FC, who passed the ball around with little effort, didn’t have to defend much, which frustrated Aguila. The El Salvadoran side began showing their teeth, with a rough tackle on Morgan. In a surprising effort, CD Aguila won a free kick outside the box, which was hit right at Kocic, who fumbled the shot and gave Aguila a precious goal. Toronto FC 2-1 CD Aguila.
Toronto FC quickly responded in the 40th minute, Ashton Morgan taking a shot which Terry Dunfield tapped in. 3-1 Toronto FC! The rest of the half played itself out without much action, Toronto FC continuing their offensive domination.
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Mariner said progress being made on signing new defender. Hopes to have it announced within 48 hours. #TFC
- @JohnMolinaro |
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The Second Half
Talk about a Swiss cheese defense! Toronto FC started their second half with a goal in the 48th minute, Reggie Lambe slotting in after finding himself with acres of space in the Aguila box. Lambe’s second goal of the night, assisted by Ashton Morgan, could not have come easier.
But, of course, with Lambe and co. having all the fun, Ryan Johnson was surely jealous. His scoresheet envy was soon cured, in the 58th minute, when Johnson received a pass from Luis Silva, rounded the goalkeeper and scored on the empty net: Toronto FC 5-1 CD Aguila!
Aaron Maund came in for Torsten Frings, a wise move by Paul Mariner, as Aguila, growing in frustration, may have caused an unfortunate injury. The game came to a crawl, and Quincy Amarikwa came in for Ryan Johnson in the 71st, but Toronto FC could sit comfortably and try their luck at goal for the remainder of the half.
Jeremy Hall came in for Doneil Henry in the 75th,, which capped off a solid display for the young defender. Logan Emory’s last-minute free kick rebounded out, the ref took a look at his whistle, and ended the game – Toronto FC 5-1 CD Aguila.
Post-Match Reaction
After the game, Paul Mariner was more than pleased with the result, and said he expects the confidence of a 5-1 win to carry over into the weekend, where the Reds take on MLS opposition once again. He also made it clear that the quality of MLS and of the Champions League, though different, does not mean that Toronto FC can approach the weekend without being focused.
Ashton Morgan weighed in on the match, focusing on the positives of their 5-1 result.
“I think we came in with a good mindset saying we’re gonna get in their faces, do our thing at home, and as the game went on we got a little more comfortable, started knocking the ball around,” said Morgan. “I had a lot of success on the flank and a lot of guys got on the scoring board – confidence was built from this game.”
As for Doneil Henry, he talked about his new fullback partner on the right:
“He’s learning!” said Morgan. “He’s looking, I’m looking off him, he’s looking off me, and yeah, you can see he’s doing really successful anywhere he plays, centerback or rightback, so it’s really good for him.”
Morgan also commented on the group stage and the upcoming match against Santos:
“Definitely you need to always need to win your first game in tournament. Coming up against Santos in two weeks, it’s gonna give us a lot of confidence.”
Confidence seemed to be key for this match, both in the tournament and for the weekend matchup against Chicago.
“It’s good for our confidence,” said Ryan Johnson, of the 5-1 rout over CD Aguila. “Going into Chicago, it’s a big game for us, so this helps everybody. We’ll be more comfortable on Saturday.”
The real post-match dilemma came when CD Aguila head coach talked about his team’s travel woes – having missed their connecting flight from Miami and subsequently being forced to sleep in the airport overnight, the Aguila players didn’t make their way into Toronto until 4 p.m. on the day of the match. This lead to fatigue, but Mariner weighed in, saying that it’s always risky traveling only a day before a game.
Logan Emory trotted out of BMO Field on his bicycle, and with his own form of transportation already secured, we asked Emory if he had ever experienced any trouble traveling with a team.
“Playing for Puerto Rico, we had a lot of interesting travel,” said Emory. “I think the worst we had was we left Puerto Rico at like, four in the morning, flew from their to Portland, Portland to Vancouver, Vancouver to Honduras, then Honduras to North Carolina. I think we slept in the airport three nights, and we got a whole bunch of middle seats on the airplane.”
Ryan Johnson weighed in on his own travel woes:
“Oh yeah, I know how it feels, I’ve been through it. It happens,” said Johnson. “But they can get us back in their home, so we’ll see for them.”
The Final Word: Toronto FC start things off with a bang!
Well, call it a complete performance, or domination of a lesser side, but Toronto FC came out for this one and got the job done, plain and simple. It was, in truth, a very winnable game for the Reds, but history has taught us that the easy games are often the ones that cause the most difficulty. That was not the case on the night, with Toronto FC delivering exactly what they were supposed to.
To be fair, Aguila mustered a goal, but with Toronto FC up 3-1 at halftime, the result was already achieved. With Lambe, Silva and even Dunfield finding the back of the net, Toronto FC now have a bit of a goal spread, which will come as a breath of relief since Danny Koevermans’ injury left the Reds looking for answers up front. With the team chipping in goals, Toronto FC just need to work on getting more and more cohesive with one another, as they build towards successes in the Champions League.
The 4-4-2 is also showing to be a much more preferable system to these players, who excelled at the midfield buildup, found the forwards easily, and did not have much trouble defending in their own half. How much of this comes down to the quality of their opponents is not for certain, but one thing that really stands out is the new-look Toronto FC’s ability to read the game and adapt to it.
They were capable of finding space, and if they didn’t see it, they created it. The buildup was so that Toronto FC did not have trouble exposing gaps and Luis Silva in particular excelled in this; his weighted passes were perfect and allowed forwards like Lambe and Johnson to score their goals.
After going up by a handful of goals, the rest of the game would simply be an exercise in goalscoring. Getting up to 5-1 by the 75th minute meant Toronto FC could sit comfortably and see out the game. They take the full three points and look towards their next Champions League encounter in El Salvador.
Safe flight back, CD Aguila!
TFC Line-up First Half
30 Milos Kocic
4 Doneil Henry
27 Richard Eckersley
2 Logan Emory
5 Ashton Morgan
22 Torsten Frings
23 Terry Dunfield
19 Reggie Lambe
32 Andrew Wiedeman
11 Luis Silva
9 Ryan Johnson
Substitutions: Aaron Maund in for Torsten Frings (61’); Quincy Amarikwa in for Ryan Johnson (71’); Jeremy Hall in for Doneil Henry (75’).
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