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Posted by
Steve Bottjer,
May 27, 2012
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@bottjerRNO
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Toronto FC 1 – Philadelphia Union 0
The Prelude to Battle
Fresh off their fourth consecutive Canadian Championship win, Toronto FC were back at it at BMO Field on Saturday. The mission plan for the Reds was simple, win their first MLS match of 2012 and avoid the embarrassment of going 0-10 to start the season.
With TFC having been a displaying a Jekyll and Hyde act in the league and in cup matches all season long, the main question heading into this one was whether or not Toronto would be able to convert the momentum from winning a key Canadian Championship match against the Whitecaps into a complete performance at home against the Philadelphia Union.
The Union haven’t exactly been an MLS powerhouse this season and arrived in Toronto on a three game losing streak and sitting just above TFC at 9th place in the Eastern Conference.
TFC Head Coach Aron Winter went with essentially the same lineup as the one that proved triumphant against the Whitecaps mid-week, with the lone change coming in the form of Luis Silva replacing the injured Eric Avila in the midfield.
The Opening Forty-Five
Toronto FC got off to a good start in this one, with the home side having more possession and forward momentum in the early going.
The Reds first chance in the match came in the 8th minute on the break when Torsten Frings set up Ryan Johnson for a shot that was stopped by Union keeper Chris Konopka. Johnson had a second chance on the rebound but was wide of the net on his second effort.
Two minutes later, Reggie Lambe set up Johnson for another decent chance, but the Jamaican International shot just wide of the far post.
Toronto came close again in the 14th minute when a corner kick by Lambe fell to an open Johnson in the Union box, but once again the TFC stalwart missed the net by mere inches.
The home side continued to dominate play and generate chance after chance throughout the opening forty-five minutes, but could not break through and find a goal, as this one started to look like a fixture in which the Reds might rue their missed chances later on.
What might been TFC’s best chance of the half came in the 40th minute when Torsten Frings beat his defender and decided against taking a shot and the laid the ball off to Joao Plata. Unfortunately, the pass didn’t have enough on it and it was cleared away by the Union. The TFC captain ended up kicking the goalpost in frustration.
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The pure, irrational joy in the south end at BMO Field for a team winning its first in 10 league games is what sport is all about. #TFC
- @DanielSquizzato |
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The Second Half
TFC came out looking flat to start the second half and the Union took their turn dominating possession and in terms of scoring chances generated.
In the 50th minute, Philly midfielder Michael Farfan came within a whisker of opening the scoring with a blast that beat Milos Kocic but that could not beat the crossbar.
The Reds came close again on a 63rd minute corner kick that Doneil Henry got his head on, but directed into the arms of Conopka, who played a fine match for the visitors.
Milos Kocic:
As the second half counted down, Philadelphia look much more like the team that was going to break through and find a winning goal, as the Reds looked increasingly like they were just hanging on defensively.
Just when it looked like Toronto was going to let a winnable game get away once again, some nice work by Nick Soolsma in the 88th minute ended with Danny Koevermans standing his ground and tapping the winner into the Philadelphia net.
Post-Match Reaction
At a more lighthearted press conference than has been the case in recent weeks, TFC Head Coach Aron Winter admitted he felt relief at TFC earning their first victory in the MLS.
“It felt very good, like last Wednesday against Vancouver, a little bit of relief. First of all you can see that overall through the whole game we can see one goal is not enough as we had opportunity to score more but I am happy,” said Winter.
Keeper Milos Kocic stated that he had been very confident coming into this game.
“I felt this coming after the Vancouver game, as we were very up for it. I felt positive after that and I really felt victory is coming this week. You could see in the first 20 minutes we absolutely destroyed them, were all over them. We just have to score the goals in those situations because they will turn against you later. But I’m very happy for the guys,” said Kocic.
Midfielder Julian de Guzman admitted that solid team defense by TFC was the difference between a win and another loss for the squad.
“We had great concentration in our own final third, like Wednesday, zero goals against helping us get our three points in this game. We knew that we would get our chances it was only a matter of concentrating to finally get that goal we kept fighting for. We kept believing in ourselves, great team performance and the Vancouver game definitely helped boost our confidence and helped us get our three points today,” said De Guzman.
The Final Word: TFC far from perfect, but get the monkey off their backs
The losing streak is over. Regardless of the fact that this was far from the best game TFC has played, ultimately the victory was all that matters at this point. This match very much looked like it was going to follow the script of TFC not converting their chances and the opposition scoring late to earn a win. Whether the fact that it did not go that route was because of luck, the TFC defense or an anemic Philadelphia offense, the monkey is now off TFC’s back.
Toronto FC can now head out on their two week break on a positive note and hopefully build on this win when they return to face Kansas City on June 16th.
When looking at this match as a whole, TFC had stretches where they were dominant in the first half, a very slow start to the second half and then a positive end to the match when they were able to score the goal they needed for the win. There is plenty of room for improvement and TFC will now have considerable time on the training ground to prepare for their upcoming fixtures.
In terms of individual performances, Milos Kocic was again key, with a couple of crucial saves to preserve the victory. Adrian Cann and Doneil Henry were both very good in central defence. Joao Plata delivered a strong first half and illustrated how important a cog he is in a chance creating offense for the Reds. Ryan Johnson, as usual, displayed an incredible work ethic and got in all the rights spot in the offensive end of the pitch. However, he continues to struggle to finish in league matches and he will need to improve in this area if Toronto is to build on this win in future matches. The Dutch duo of Danny Koevermans and Nick Soolsma made an instant impact when they came on as substitutes in the second half. Aron Winter should seriously consider starting at least Koevermans in future matches, as it clear that the big Dutchman is TFC’s most dependable finisher.
TFC Line-up
30 Kocic
5 Morgan
3 Aceval
4 Henry
25 Hal
l
22 Frings
6 De Guzman
11 Silva
9 Johnson
7 Plata
19 Lambe
Substitutions:
(54) Eckersley in for Lambe; (62) Koevermans in for Plata. (70) Soolsma in for Silva.
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