After more than two weeks since that feisty second-leg clash with the New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC returns to the pitch Tuesday night for the first leg of the Eastern Conference final against the Columbus Crew.
However, the Reds will be without their top two scorers as Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore, who have accounted for nearly 42 per cent of TFC’s offence this season, will both miss the first half of the tie due to suspension.
TFC’s dynamic duo combined for 31 goals during the regular season, and will obviously be sorely missed in Ohio. But this isn’t the first time Toronto has had to deal with the absence of its best goal-scorers. In fact, the Reds have played four matches this season without Giovinco and Altidore.
Toronto FC without Giovinco and Altidore | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Opponent | Date | Result | Goals For | Goals Against |
Columbus Crew | April 26 | Win | 5 | 0 |
LA Galaxy | Sept. 16 | Win | 4 | 0 |
Montreal Impact | Sept. 20 | Loss | 3 | 5 |
New England Revolution | Sept. 23 | Loss | 1 | 2 |
TFC played to an interesting mixture of results without its two stars: a pair of dominant wins over East final opponent Columbus and the LA Galaxy; a loss to rival Montreal that was more one-sided than the score suggests; and a tight loss to New England that featured three goals in the final eight minutes of the game. [sidebar]
One thing that did not lack for the Reds over these four games was goals. Led by Tosaint Ricketts (four) and Victor Vazquez (three), TFC achieved two of their most lopsided wins of the season by finding the back of the net nine times. And while it’s not clear how TFC will line up on Tuesday night, Sportsnet’s John Molinaro expects both Ricketts and Vazquez to play key roles in the absence of Altidore and Giovinco, something that could work in TFC’s favour Tuesday night.
"In some ways, [the absence of Giovinco and Altidore] makes Columbus’ job of preparing for us in this game even harder, because I think while on one hand they’ll be excited that these guys aren’t going to play a part, we can do a lot of different things," TFC captain Michael Bradley said. "We’ve got some variation, we can use a few different guys, we can play a few different ways,"
Toronto FC kicks off the first leg Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. ET, with the second leg going on Nov. 29 at BMO Field.
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