Here’s what happened in Major League Soccer action between Toronto FC and the Chicago Fire on Saturday night at BMO Field, in case you missed it.
Game summary in a sentence
TFC gave up a goal in the 90th minute to settle for a 2-2 draw, but dropped points were the least of the Reds’ problems as starters Steven Caldwell and Justin Morrow picked up injuries.
• Read the full match report and check out the boxscore
• Watch videos: Match highlights || Former TFC players strike back || Bloom: ‘We deserved more than a draw’ || TFC fans do Ice Bucket Challenge
Main thoughts on the match
Toronto can’t close the deal: TFC twice enjoyed the lead in this one and seemed to have the game firmly in control. Twice they let Chicago back into it, including in the final minute of regulation when former Red Quincy Amarikwa capitalized on some poor defending by Toronto’s Jackson and beat goalkeeper Joe Bendik from close range. Another former TFC forward, Robert Earnshaw, levelled the score in the 70th minute off another defensive breakdown involving Jackson.
“The second goal was horrendous to tell you the truth. When an opposition player gets to the end-line, we got to have midfielders right on top of our back line defending our box. Instead, we were spectators—we watched it, hoping someone would make a play,” coach Ryan Nelsen said.
Nelsen admitted that losing captain Steven Caldwell and left back Justin Morrow to injuries in the game disrupted his side—and to be fair, it’d be tough for any MLS side to grind out a result after losing two key starters.
It’s tough, but not impossible. This was a test to see how the Reds could overcome adversity. They failed miserably. Chicago was there for the taking; the Fire offered very little going forward and spotted Toronto a goal in the third minute when Bakary Soumare made a mess of Morrow’s cross and deflected it into his net.
The post-season race in the East is heating up, and teams are starting to close in on Toronto. A playoff berth that once looked a sure bet is now in doubt. If this is all TFC has, if this is how they respond when things don’t go their way, if they continue to concede soft goals, you can forget about the playoffs.
More injury woes for TFC: TFC had three key players returning from injuries in the starting 11: forward Jermain Defoe, captain Steven Caldwell and fellow defender Mark Bloom.
Defoe was virtually invisible, perhaps still feeling the effects of a groin strain that kept him out of the previous three contests. Bloom lasted the full contest, but Caldwell came out midway through the first half when he reinjured his quad, and left-back Justin Morrow was subbed out in the 58th minute with a hamstring injury.
Nelsen said taking out Caldwell was just a precaution, and Morrow told reporters he didn’t think his injury was serious. Regardless, both players will have scans on Monday to determine the extent of their injuries.
Nelsen will be holding his breath that he doesn’t lose half of his back line for any period of time because the Reds simply don’t have the defensive depth to cope. Toronto has just one clean sheet in their last 12 games, and has conceded a whopping 23 goals in that stretch.
When Morrow came out, TFC was leading 1-0, and Nelsen decided to shift Bloom from the right to left side of defence, and play Jackson at right-back—this after the Brazilian had a poor outing in last week’s 4-1 loss to Kansas City when deputizing for Bloom at right-back.
Against Chicago, Jackson was far from his best and was partially culpable on both goals. But Nelsen defended his decision to play the Brazilian at right back, instead of the more defensively reliable Bradley Orr.
“We wanted to put Jackson in there. He’s been pretty good out there … Sometimes that right back can get left one-on-one, so we needed a bit of athleticism out there,” Nelsen stated.
Jackson proved to be defensive liability. That’s how this correspondent and the majority or reporters in the press box viewed it. Nelsen saw it differently.
“It’s a situation where we put ourselves in a nice position to win the game at 2-1. … If we won 2-1 everybody would have said it was a good decision [to put Jackson at right back instead of Orr]. By the way, [Jackson] made some very good clearing headers at the back. Some of his tackling was very good. I thought he was brilliant and no fault on any of the goals,” Nelsen said.
Gilberto scores again: Gilberto continues to be a bright spot for TFC.
After failing to find the back of the net in his first nine appearances, the Brazilian has scored in each of his last four games to bring his season goal total to six, good enough for second place in team scoring behind Defoe.
Gilberto showed great composure in taking his chance against Chicago, calmly rounding goalkeeper Sean Johnson and slotting home into an empty net in the 79th minute after latching on to a great pass from Luke Moore.
Aside from hooking up on Toronto’s second goal Saturday night, Gilberto and Moore combined well during Defoe’s recent absence, forming an effective partnership up front. Moore has routinely displayed great vision and passing ability, while Defoe’s hold up play and runs off the ball make him hard to handle for opposing defenders.
If Defoe struggles to return to form after his injury layoff, it’s comforting to know that Gilberto and Moore are more than capable of picking up the scoring slack, and can lead the line.
He said it
“We had a lot of the ball and a lot of the possession which [will please all the] analytics guys, but we really didn’t do much with it. It was comfortable possession in front of their 10 [outfield players]. They sat back and we really didn’t punish them.” – Coach Ryan Nelsen.
3 stars
1) Gilberto: Scored the winner, worked tirelessly off the ball and was consistently the Reds’ best offensive outlet in the game.
2) Jonathan Osorio: Raised his game to another level tonight with his probing runs and pinpoint passes that carved open Chicago’s back line.
3) Robert Earnshaw: The former TFC forward came on as a sub for Chicago in the 65th minute—five minutes later he levelled the score..
Stat of the night
Chicago is undefeated in its last 10 MLS meetings against Toronto.
Head to head
The Fire lead the all-time series against TFC with eight wins and seven draws in 18 games. These teams will meet again for the third and final time this season on Sept. 13 in Chicago. TFC earned a 1-1 draw in Chicago back in July.
Tweet of the night
BMO Field's pretty empty to start this game. Everyone's stuck on the ferris wheel or in the Food Building, it seems. #TFCLive @LetsGoToTheEX
— Rudi Schuller (@RudiSchuller) August 23, 2014
What’s next?
Toronto FC returns to MLS action next Saturday when it hosts the New England Revolution.
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