COLUMBUS, OHIO – Just win, baby.
Okay, so Toronto FC didn’t actually win Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference final first leg, but earning a 0-0 draw against the Columbus Crew without their top two scorers was almost as good as a victory for the Reds.
With both Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore suspended, TFC was up against it in Columbus. Playing in a hostile atmosphere and facing a surging Crew side that was the hottest team in MLS down the stretch, going unbeaten in their last 10 matches of the season, and who upset Atlanta United and New York City FC in the previous two rounds of the playoffs, the Reds were looking to get something positive – anything! – from this game.
TFC managed to keep a clean sheet, and now head back to BMO Field, where they only lost once this season, for next week’s return match with a golden opportunity to finish things off. Oh, and they’ll also have Giovinco and Altidore back in the lineup, too.
So, all in all, it was a successful trip to the Midwest.
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Tuesday’s performance by Toronto was more gritty than glittering, more grinding than grandiose, bearing no resemblance to the stylish manner in which the best team in MLS routinely dispatched opponents during the regular season with its high-powered attack.
TFC didn’t record a single shot on net against the Crew, and created very little in the final third of the pitch. Canadian forward Tosaint Ricketts, charged with leading the line in the absences of both Giovinco and Altidore, looked isolated for most the match. The speedster didn’t have the opportunity to use his pace to put Columbus’ defenders under direct pressure, as the final pass from midfield that would release him on goal never came.
“I think the guys were having a tough time finding Tosaint, both in transition and sometimes in possession. I think he was drifting, sometimes, to the back post a little bit too early so we were having a real hard time connecting with him,” coach Greg Vanney admitted after the game.
Vanney’s switch from his preferred 3-5-2 to a 4-1-4-1 formation, with captain Michael Bradley deployed as a defensive stopper parked in front of the back-four, was about managing the game and stifling the Crew, rather than trying to score. If goals came, fine. But the main focus was on not conceding.
The game plan was pulled off without a hitch. The Reds looked calm and composed throughout the contest, their focus on defensive organization proving too much for Columbus to overcome. Harrison Afful’s late chance for the Crew that required Alex Bono to make a point-blank stop was the only save of genuine consequence that the TFC goalkeeper had to make the entire game.
It was far from pretty from Toronto, and that’s entirely the point. It wasn’t meant to be. This wasn’t about putting on a show, but rather grinding it out, and taking that next step towards the MLS Cup final.
Some critics will look at Tuesday’s game and wonder where was the TFC who used to dominate opponents, who scored a league-high 74 goals during the regular season, and who set a new MLS record with 69 points during the 2017 campaign.
Truth be told, that TFC hasn’t been around for a few months now. Not since back-to-back 4-0 wins in early September – at home to San Jose and on the road versus L.A. – has Toronto looked like its “normal” self. By any means necessary has become the new credo by which they have lived.
While TFC’s style of play has lacked aesthetic beauty, you can’t argue with the results. They’ve fought their way through the playoffs thus far without shifting out of first gear, and are now 90 minutes away from advancing to the MLS Cup for a second consecutive year.
As Bradley has stated many times in recent weeks, teams are under no obligation to entertain, especially in the post-season. It’s the end result that matters. How you get there doesn’t matter, so long as you arrive at your final destination. Bradley and his teammates fully understand this, and they will make no apologies for this more pragmatic approach.
This was a lesson that Toronto learned the hard way in last year’s MLS Cup final played at BMO Field, when the Reds took it to Seattle for 90 minutes of regulation and half an hour of extra time, but still managed to lose in a penalty shootout to a Sounders team that didn’t register a single shot on target.
TFC, in effect, “pulled a Seattle” on Tuesday night by going into the lion’s den, in this case a boisterous and sold out MAPFRE Stadium, and doing what they had to do to ensure they return home in a comfortable position to close out this aggregate playoff series.
Bradley summed up Toronto’s performance in Columbus, calling it a “professional” display.
“One of the team’s stated goals was to walk away from here with something. Whether it was a win, a tie, some away goals – we needed to leave here with the opportunity to finish things off at [home] next week. We did that,” Bradley said.
Bono put in even more succinctly when speaking to reporters after the game.
“We really grinded it out today. That’s what you have to do in the playoffs sometimes,” Bono offered.
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