|
|
Posted by
Steve Bottjer,
August 19, 2012
|
|
Email Steve Bottjer
Twitter
@bottjerRNO
|
|
Read this on your iPhone/iPad or Android device
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Toronto FC 0 – 1 Sporting Kansas City
|
The Prelude to Battle
Fresh off their 2-2 draw with fellow cellar dweller the Portland Timbers, Toronto FC went into this one with little time to prepare to face a much more formidable side in the form of Sporting Kansas City on Saturday afternoon.
While Toronto generally looked quite poor and out of sorts for large stretches of their midweek match against the Timbers, they likely went into this one buoyed on a couple of fronts. Given that against Portland the Reds had to field a lineup missing five potential starters due to injury, suspension and International duty and played with a makeshift back line consisting of two defenders (Adrian Cann and Ty Harden) who were playing their first matches after a long layoff due to injury, the return of Internationals Terry Dunfield, Ryan Johnson and Doneil Henry to the squad and the expected debut of new defender Darren O’Dea likely injected a jolt of energy into a squad that looked quite moribund for entire first half of the fixture of their previous match.
|
|
Furthermore, Eric Hassli looked fantastic in his TFC home debut on Wednesday and linked up very well with Luis Silva, who has been one of Toronto’s most consistent and impressive performers in recent weeks. Adding the physically imposing, hard working and athletically gifted Ryan Johnson to that mix likely had TFC Head Coach Paul Mariner confident that those three players would spearhead a Toronto attack that would hopefully be able to match up well against the formidable offensive options available to Kansas City Head Coach Peter Vermes in the foursome of Graham Zusi, Kei Kamara, CJ Sapong or Teal Bunbury.
The Opening Forty-Five
The first half kicked off with Toronto looking much more organized and in command than they had against the Portland Timbers on Wednesday, as the return of players such as Ryan Johnson and Terry Dunfield looked like it was paying immediate dividends in terms of Toronto’s ball movement.
Toronto’s first scoring chance came in the 12th minute after Eric Hassli was pulled down a few yards outside the Sporting penalty area. Torsten Frings stepped up to take the free kick but his powerful shot sailed about a foot over the crossbar.
TFC keeper Milos Kocic was tested for the first time in the 19th minute when he made a nice reaction save on a deflected blast from Kansas City defender Seth Sinovic.
Kansas City broke down the TFC defence in the 34th minute when Sporting maestro Graham Zusi sent Teal Bunbury in alone on Kocic, but the shot attempt by the U.S.A. International was weak and did not trouble the Reds keeper.
TFC came close again in the 43rd minute when a Torsten Frings corner kick hit the goal post with the ball then coming out to Terry Dunfield, who headed it off the crossbar and out of bounds.
While the first half wasn’t exactly a cornucopia of dramatic scoring chances, it was evenly played by both sides, with the 0-0 score line adequately reflecting the run of play..
|
|
Montreal has won 11 games in their first season where TFC have never won more than 10 in any of their first 5 seasons. Way to go @torontofc
- @IKvsDK |
|
|
The Second Half
Toronto’s first chance of the second half came in the 54th minute when Ryan Johnson volleyed the ball across the Kansas City box, but Eric Hassli’s header was just wide of the far post.
The Reds almost scored an own goal in the 63rd minute when Sporting midfielder Roger Espinoza sent a ball into the TFC box that a sliding Darren O’Dea just redirected over both Milos Kocic and the crossbar.
Toronto came within inches of a goal once again in the 71st minute when Frings lofted a ball into the Sporting box that Ryan Johnson headed just over the crossbar.
In what must have been a very bitter pill for TFC, Kei Kamara scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute on a free kick that deflected off the Reds wall past a helpless Kocic.
The Final Word: Darren O’Dea solid in his TFC debut
Realistically, there wasn’t a whole lot to separate Toronto FC and Sporting Kansas City in this match. Neither side delivered a tour de force performance and the visiting team was a little bit lucky on the goal they scored. A draw really would have been a more appropriate result for this game. That said, good teams seem to take advantage of any opportunity they are given and Sporting did just that, while for Toronto it was close but no cigar in the goal scoring department.
In terms of positives, Toronto delivered a more complete ninety minute team performance than they did midweek against the Portland Timbers. Recently signed defender Darren O’Dea looked very solid in his first MLS match. He was also a little bit lucky on a play which almost resulted in an own goal and that could have marked an inauspicious debut for the Irish International. However, overall he looked like a player who is going to make a difference for the Reds. Adding him to a back line corps along with Richard Eckersley and a soon to be back in form Adrian Cann and Toronto should be in business with a much improved back four going forward.
The return of Terry Dunfield to the lineup made a noticeable difference in the centre of the pitch for Toronto and in terms of the energy that Toronto brought to the game. And outside of a possible questionable call by the referee on the foul that lead to the free kick that lead to the Kansas City goal, fullback Ashtone Morgan delivered a fine defensive performance at both right and left back.
In terms of the negatives, there were once again too many long balls delivered right to the feet of opposition players. And while he again had his moments and delivered a couple instances of thrilling technique, Eric Hassli was pretty well held in check by fellow Frenchman Aurelien Collin.
Injured midfielder Reggie Lambe was clearly missed in this match, as his replacement, Andrew Wiedeman, was something of a weak point in terms of his linkup play with Hassli and Frings. He looked a bit out of his element and a step too slow on the majority of plays. Paul Mariner highlighted after the match that it had been some time since Wiedeman had played a full ninety.
Most disappointing for Toronto were the missed chances. Both Hassli and Ryan Johnson had excellent chances to score but failed to finish on plays that they should have done better on. Add in Torsten Frings hitting the post and Terry Dunfield hitting the crossbar and this match was pretty much encapsulated by the close calls that did not pan out for the home side. Given that Sporting Kansas City is one of the best teams in the league, a loss was going to be inevitable unless the team played a flawless defensive game and put away any chances they were given. TFC came close enough, but points are not awarded for achieving that.
TFC Line-up
30 Kocic
4 Henry
27 Eckersley
48 O’Dea
5 Morgan
22 Frings
32 Wiedeman
11 Silva
23 Dunfield
9 Johnson
29 Hassli
Substitutions: (36) Emory in for Henry; (87) Amarikwa in for Wiedeman.
|