Home Sweet Home For Toronto FC


With a record of two wins, one draw and two losses in the last five home openers, Toronto FC looked to please a warm crowd on a cool March evening. 

The site that christened Alejandro Pozuelo last season, who delighted fans by chipping the Revolution’s goalkeeper twice that game, was pleased once again by a late winner by Ife Achara. Vanney opted for a 4-4-2 formation with Westberg in goal, Auro and Morrow at fullback, Gonzalez and Mavinga as centrebacks, Achara and Gallardo on the wings, Osorio and Delgado in centre midfield. In attack, and no other option than the big guns Pozuelo and Altidore. 

 New York City FC lined up with a 4-1-4-1 that saw Johnson in goal, Tinnerholm and Matarrita at fullback, Callens and Sands in centre back, Ring sitting on top of the defence with Mitrita and Medina on the wings, Moralez and Parks in centre mid and Heber up top as the sole forward. 

 The match got off to a slow start, with VAR (Video Assistant Referee) as the main protagonist in the first half. In fact, match official Ted Unkel had to consult it twice: in the first instance, at the 11th minute to review a goal scored by the home side’s rookie Ife Achara (the goal was in turn disallowed), and in the second to review a possible foul by the visitors on Morrow. 

 The first half ends with little else to report other than a Pozuelo cross bar and a weak attempt by Parks. At the restart the visitors start to push TFC into their own end, but are unable to produce anything worthy of note. As the half matures, the Reds come out of that shell and start to make a case for a home win. At the 67th minute Pozuelo brushes a free kick into the box that Altidore meets well, but Johnson is equal to the task. Three minutes later, Sands nearly putts the ball into his own goal, in an attempt to clear a dangerous, low cross by Pozuelo. At the 80th minute, substitute Ritchie Laryea gathers a ball that Altidore can’t quite control, puts up a cross that Caliens deflects up, but can’t quite clear, and rookie Achara slams home a header that delights the home crowd on his debut. 1-0 Toronto FC. 

Little to no reaction from a static NYC FC side who struggled to produce anything in terms of dangerous offence. Credit goes to Vanney for setting a solid defensive phase by his men who did really well considering that they lacked a muscular midfield. The Reds run out deserved winners at the end, giving Greg Vanney his 100th career win as a head coach. 

Notable Quotes
“I heard it was a great hockey player. I forget his name, but he’s a great hockey player.” – Man of the Match Achara on the significance of wearing number 99, forgetting that it was Wayne Gretzky. 

“My 100th career win? A lot of the guys were here for the first one and they’re here still” – Greg Vanney, TFC head coach

Game Summary 
 Toronto 1, New York 0
Goal: Ife Achara (80th minute)
Attendance: 26,171 

Originally published on March 8, 2020 on Breaking The Lines

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#SerieA Road Trip Personal Blog Day 8, Paying Respects to Crosstown Rivals

Image
As a Juventino who is not from Turin it's difficult to fully appreciate the rivalry with crosstown rivals AC Torino. Perhaps this one is the least balanced crosstown derbies in Italy: Hellas-Chievo in Verona, Inter-Milan in Milan, Genoa-Sampdoria in Genoa, Roma-Lazio in Rome, can go either way in any given year. For the better part of the last 20 years Juventus-Torino is a derby that has gone one way: the bianconeri 's.  In fact, Torino hasn't even scored a goal in a derby in the last decade. This hasn't made a difference, however, with respect to the historical rivalry that exists between the two factions. As soon as you identify yourself as a Juventus fan, some  granata  fans will turn away or simply call you a " Gobbo di Merda " (shitty juventus fan - gobbo , hunchback, is a nickname for Juventus fans).  I did attend the last derby in February 2014, and was able to gain an appreciation for the rivalry between the two sides. This time aroun
Read more

My very personal wish to Juventus on her 120th birthday

Image
Iconic Giovanni Trapattoni carried to victory in 1977 by Juventus players. In the foreground: Causio, Scirea, and Cabrini. In occasion of Juventus FC's 120th birthday, I want to take advantage of this platform to give you an account of what Juventus means to me. I wrestled with the idea of writing this due to some of its very personal insights into my life, but I nevertheless believe that it's important that I share this story with my readers/followers. Juventus represents for me a constant that bridged many of life's cliffs, providing thus safe passage to the other side of the abyss. I began supporting Juventus because it was my best friend's team. I was 8 years old, and soon after I started supporting Juventus, she underwent a 9-year scudetto drought. I didn't know major victories while I supported the bianconeri  in Italy, as a child. I didn't know what it meant to live a magical Wednesday night of Champions Cup football. I didn't know any
Read more

My Champions League Final

Image
On my commute home one cool evening in May I feel my phone buzzing in my jacket's pocket. I pick up. "Hey, man, listen. I've got to tell you something: I've got to go", my friend Jack intimates. "And you need my permission?", I reply jokingly. "No, dude. I have to go to the final". With these words, Jack opened a door for me to complete the dream of a lifetime: to watch Juventus play and - let's not kid anyone - win a Champions League Final. Another acquaintance of mine, Dom, had already planted a little bug in my ear, suggesting that we meet in Cardiff for the final before Juve's second semifinal against Monaco, generously offering me to split his accommodations if I decided to go. The Clincher In that phone call, Jack told me that unbeknownst to each other, we both had made separate requests for a single ticket to the Juventus Club DOC of Toronto . After a protracted and iterative process my membership ($65/season)
Read more