TORONTO — What a comeback!
Down two goals and seemingly out of it after being outplayed in the opening 45 minutes, Toronto FC scored two second-half goals to earn a dramatic 3-3 draw against the New York Red Bulls on Sunday night at BMO Field before 24,078 spectators.
Jozy Altidore was the hero on the night for Toronto, scoring a brace, including the equalizer in the 86th minute. The draw not only allowed Toronto to hold on to first place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference, but the home side also officially clinched a playoff berth with five games to spare.
TFC plays four of their final five matches of the campaign at BMO Field, so they are in firm control of their fate in the race for top spot in the East, with a slender lead and games in hand on second-place New York City FC and the third-place Red Bulls. They also have Western Conference leaders FC Dallas (five points up on TFC) in their sights for the Supporters’ Shield, awarded to the first place team overall in MLS at the end of the regular season.
Toronto coach Greg Vanney admitted he was disappointed with how his team gave up three soft goals and committed so many big defensive errors in allowing New York to take control of the game. At the same time, he lauded his players for the determination they displayed in coming back.
“I am very proud of the character of this group to be able to fight back twice after [committing] some really bad mistakes that often kick you in the gut and takes some steam out of you,” Vanney said.
Altidore also thought TFC displayed a lot of character in a match he said felt like a playoff contest.
“To stay in this game, to come back and to [earn] a good point in the end, it showed a lot of guts,” Altidore stated.
In a sign of how much this team has grown during Vanney’s two-year tenure and how much the mindset in the locker room has changed, TFC’s coach said his players weren’t at all satisfied with salvaging a point.
“They’re disappointed that we got a draw because their vision, and for what they want from themselves, is to really get out in front of the Eastern Conference and they wanted to win today,” Vanney said.
He later added: “All things being said, we’ll take it because we fought hard. … This is a sign that this group [of players] is different than any of the other groups that came before them.”
New York coach Jesse Marsch bemoaned his team’s ability to kill the game off at 3-1, but also said Sunday’s entertaining affair was a great advertisement for MLS.
“It felt like a heavyweight fight—both teams throwing punches and both teams taking punches,” Marsch offered.
TFC forward Sebastian Giovinco sat out his second consecutive match due to injury (strains in his quadriceps and adductor). Toronto was also missing forward Tosaint Ricketts (groin), defender Mark Bloom (ankle) and Ashtone Morgan (foot), and midfielder Jay Chapman (MCL tear).
With Giovinco and Ricketts out, Jordan Hamilton started up front alongside Altidore. Vanney also decided to stick with backup goalkeeper Alex Bono, even though starter Clint Irwin remains available after his lengthy injury layoff.
A wild and eventful first half saw TFC go down 2-0 after some incredibly lazy and sloppy play early on. Toronto failed to clear its lines in the 12th minute, and it eventually resulted in an own-goal by Steven Beitashour off a cross played into the box by New York’s Felipe. That goal seemed to wake up Toronto, who carved out scoring chances, only to see Jonathan Osorio (twice) and Altidore spurn their opportunities.
The Red Bulls padded their lead in the 31st minute when TFC defender Eriq Zavaleta lingered on the ball too long in his end, and coughed up possession while being closed down. On the ensuing three-man break, Bradley Wright-Phillips beat a helpless Bono in the Toronto net. It was goal that was all but gift-wrapped by Zavaleta, who could have made an easy clearance before being stripped of the ball.
Toronto pulled a goal back just before halftime when a lovely sequence of buildup play ended with Justin Morrow cutting a pass back towards the middle of the box for Michael Bradley to thump home. It was the TFC captain’s first goal of the MLS season.
New York restored its two-goal lead shortly after the restart when a turnover saw the Red Bulls shred TFC on the counter and Wright-Phillips score past a helpless Bono. Toronto fought back again, though.
Altidore stroked home a beautiful, curling free kick from 25 yards out in the 68th minute, and then scored again with four minutes left in regulation on a shot that took a deflection snuck by Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles and just inside the post. The American forward now has eight goals in his last nine matches.
NOTES: Former Toronto FC captain Dwayne De Rosario was honoured in an on-field ceremony prior to kickoff on Sunday… New York leads the all-time MLS series against Toronto with 13 wins and six draws in 26 meetings. This was the third and final game of the regular season between these two sides—they split the previous two contests… TFC continues its four-game stint at BMO Field with matches against the Philadelphia Union (Sept. 24), Orlando City (Sept. 28) and D.C. United (Oct. 1).
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