D.C. United 3 – 1 Toronto FC
The Prelude to Battle
Fresh off two fairly impressive results in the Canadian Championship tournament, Toronto arrived in the U.S. capital in search of their first MLS point in their 2012 campaign. Standing in their way was former TFC captain Dwayne De Rosario and a D.C. United squad fresh off a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rapids.
With De Rosario leading a very impressive United attack, Toronto were likely going to need to a flawless defensive effort if they were going to earn their first league draw or win of the season. With that in mind, Aron Winter elected to go with the same team that played quite well away in a 1-1 Canadian Championship draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Torsten Frings missed this match due to his shoulder injury and Canadian International Julian de Guzman wore the captain's armband in his absence.
The Opening Forty-Five
Any hope that TFC were going to grab an early lead towards getting a foothold in the direction of their first 2012 league point was dispelled in the first minute of play when MLS all time great Dwayne De Rosario headed one in off a free kick to give D.C. a very early lead. Once again Toronto's inability to defend set pieces had put them in the hole in a significant way.
Toronto showed plenty of initiative moving forward but rarely threatened United keeper Bill Hamid, with Ryan Johnson and Reggie Lambe standing out as two of the Reds players who really came to play in the opening forty-five minutes.
An injury to D.C. United midfielder Danny Cruz early in the first half lead to Canadian International Dejan Jakovic coming on as a substitute.
In the 29th minute, Joao Plata lined up a TFC free kick from a dangerous shot, with his effort evaded the wall but going right into the waiting hands of a perfectly positioned Hamid.
Albanian Designated Player Hamdi Salihi earned a yellow card in the 31st minute when he knocked the ball into the back of the TFC net with his hand.
TFC committed the cardinal sin of allowing a second goal just before the half time break in the 43rd minute when a wide open De Rosario tapped in one of the easiest goals he has scored in a long and illustrious MLS career.
The Reds had an excellent chance to get back into the match in first half injury time when Reggie Lambe sent a seeing eye cross through the United box, but Terry Dunfield missed a glorious opportunity when he could not get his shot on target.
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If I have to hear the "they're not an 0-9 team" line 1 more time I'm gonna lose it. The fact is they ARE 0-9. That's all that matters. #TFC
- @JohnMolinaro |
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The Second Half
Aron Winter made one change to start the second half, bringing on forward Danny Koevermans in place of Dunfield.
D.C. United almost scored the first goal of the half when De Rosario set up Josh Wolff with a cross deep in the TFC box, but a fearless Milos Kocic made a big save before colliding with his own defender on a play that left both the keeper and Doneil Henry on the ground for a minute or so. To their credit, both players shook off the pain and continued and finished out the game.
Danny Koevermans Reaction:
The Reds came close in the 62nd minute when Julian de Guzman delivered an excellent cross into the D.C. box, but Johnson headed the ball right into the hands of Hamid, as his scoring struggles in the league continued.
Toronto finally got on the scoreboard in the 71st minute when De Guzman delivered another perfect ball into the United box that Danny Koevermans volleyed past Hamid into the back of the net.
With the Reds now back in the game, the visiting team conceded the cardinal sin of allowing their opponent to score almost immediately after they had opened their scoring account, with a shaky TFC back line allowing to Andy Najar to penetrate and set up Salihi for D.C.'s third of the game.
To their credit, Toronto continued to push forward and make a game of it, with their best scoring chance coming in the 81st minute when Soolsma nicely set up the snakebitten Johnson, who redirected the ball just inches wide of the post.
Toronto would come no closer and this one went into the books as TFC's ninth straight league loss.
The Final Word: Where is Andy Iro these days?
With every defeat now setting a new MLS record for futility to start an MLS season, you have to wonder just how much longer Aron Winter has to turn things around. Once again TFC had their moments and did some good things, but overall was the squad was again far away from delivering a complete performance. After a few solid games, the back line struggled one more time, as Milos Kocic was hung out to dry on all three goals.
This match also likely had many TFC supporters wondering where Andy Iro is these days, as the best player in this fixture by a large margin was former TFC scoring machine Dwayne De Rosario. The reigning league MVP scored twice, played a key part in United's third goal and almost set up several more. To put it bluntly and honestly, it is hard to imagine that Toronto would be 0-9 at this point in the season if De Rosario was still wearing a TFC kit.
Outside of the fact that this was another defeat, the main negatives were once again from a defensive standpoint, as this team continues to be mistake prone in their own end regardless of who is in the starting eleven. TFC has also been subject to slow starts this year and allowing a goal to De Rosario in the first minute of play is simply unforgivable. In terms of poor individual performances, Joao Plata had another lacklustre game and the TFC offense clearly suffered from that fact.
In terms of positives, Julian de Guzman delivered another strong game and has become one of Toronto's most consistent performers in recent weeks. The two Dutch substitutes - Danny Koevermans and Nick Soolsma - came in and did a good job of injecting life into the TFC offense as their team attempted to battle back from a deficit. Reggie Lambe delivered another serviceable effort, Kocic made a few big saves and Ashtone Morgan was also quite impressive delivering crosses and attacking from the left side.
Looking forward, Toronto will need to put this loss behind them quickly, with the second leg of the Canadian Championship occurring at home at BMO Field on Wednesday. Depending on his match fitness, Aron Winter will have to make a calculated decision whether or not to start Danny Koevermans in that fixture against Vancouver, as the TFC offense was markedly better with him and Soolma playing up top in the second half.
As for the league schedule, Philadelphia is up next and they might present TFC's best chance at a first MLS win, as the Union currently sit second last in the Eastern Conference just above the Reds in the standings.
TFC Line-up
30 Milos Kocic
25 Jeremy Hall
12 Adrian Cann
4 Doneil Henry
5 Ashtone Morgan
6 Julian de Guzman
23 Terry Dunfield
8 Eric Avila
7 Joao Plata
9 Ryan Johnson
19 Reggie Lambe
Substitutions:
Danny Koevermans in for Terry Dunfield (46'), Nick Soolsma in for Joao Plata (68').
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