THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — With an injury-ravaged roster and only a week removed from a humiliating home loss, Toronto FC head coach Aron Winter is feeling good about a draw.
Winter watched his side play a scoreless match against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday evening at BMO Field.
The defensive affair was in stark contrast to TFC’s last match, a 6-2 thrashing at home courtesy of the Philadelphia Union. It was Toronto’s worst home loss in franchise history and the Reds vowed to improve their game. They did that much, at least defensively.
"If you’re watching now and comparing with last week it was a very good (performance)," said Winter. "Even more so because we are missing a lot of good players.
"We didn’t create a lot of opportunities, but we didn’t give anything away, so that’s very good."
The Philadelphia debacle showed some glaring holes in TFC’s defence and that situation didn’t look to be improving any time soon after the recent loss of key centre back Adrian Cann. The defender suffered a knee injury during practice this week and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
That opened the door for Nana Attakora, who Winter has used sparingly this year despite his strong season in 2010. Attakora played well Saturday, but he left the game in the 89th with a possible thigh injury.
"Fantastic performance," Richard Eckersley said of his fellow defender. "You can see in training he’s been rearing to go and he took his opportunity. Hopefully, he hasn’t injured himself longterm."
MLS-worst Kansas City (1-6-3) is still winless since a 3-2 season-opening victory over Chivas USA on March 19. They are at the tail end of 10-game road odyssey due to the construction of their new soccer field, Livestrong Sporting Park.
SKC goalkeeper Eric Kronberg says the team can’t wait to get home, start fresh and play their inaugural game at the new pitch Thursday against the Chicago Fire.
"We took a bit of a dip losing a couple games in a row," he said of the road journey. "I think we’re finally on our way out of the hole and heading in the right direction. I don’t think we’re too happy with it, but I think we’re happy with where we are going."
After a choppy first half that had little rhythm and few quality chances, Toronto (2-5-7) emerged from the locker-room looking more determined. Right away captain Maicon Santos drove deep into SKC’s penalty area and went one-on-one with Kronberg, who proved up to the task.
Santos took another crack at it in 59th with a low blast from 20 yards out, but again Kronberg handled the threat. Seven minutes later Santos had yet another sparkling chance from nine yards out, and this time an outstretched Kronberg tipped his shot over the crossbar.
Toronto substitute Doneil Henry came in just before injury time and immediately made his presence felt with a dead-on header that could have stolen a win.
Sporting finally gave TFC ‘keeper Stefan Frei some work in 70th when Teal Bunbury struck a right-footed shot from long range.
"We might have lacked the finishing touch at the end, but we kept a clean sheet and we didn’t give them any sniff at goal," said Frei, who has four shutouts this season.
Bunbury was booed mercilessly on every touch, especially when he blasted a ball into Toronto’s net after a whistle in the 25th. The officials chose not to book the Canadian-born forward, who is now an American citizen and has elected to play for the U.S. national squad, drawing the ire of local soccer fans.
.Sporting almost connected on a set piece in the 22nd minute as midfielder Ryan Smith sent a long ball into the TFC box with Frei out of position, but the ball was headed just wide.
Diminutive striker Joao Plata energized the Toronto attack early in the sixth minute when he blazed down the left flank alone and sent a nice cross to Javier Martina, who was waiting at the top of KC’s penalty box. However, Martina couldn’t handle the pass as Sporting pressured the Toronto forwards in their defensive zone.
Also missing from FC’s depleted lineup was high-priced midfielder Julian De Guzman, who is away fulfilling national duties with Canada at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, as was Jamaican national Dicoy Williams.
Toronto’s beleaguered attack is still awaiting the return of Alan Gordon. His status for Saturday was in question, but a nagging groin issue kept the forward out at least another game.
"We’re missing five players we normally play," said Winters. "Some are away at the Gold Cup and some are injured. Those guys who came in, like Nana and Ty (Harden), they’ve done very well.
"The most important thing is we have to work hard and that everybody remains fit so we can play the games."
Notes: Toronto’s Harden and Tony Tchani both received yellow cards in the second half. … Sporting’s Omar Bravo was booked with a yellow in the 38th after tripping Eckersley from behind. … Toronto injuries include midfielder Elbekay Bouchiba (knee surgery recovery), midfielder Matt Stinson (calf strain), forward Alan Gordon (abductor strain), and midfielder Jacob Peterson (hamstring). … Hamilton-born Bunbury has not found the back of the net in his last seven games for Sporting. He scored the lone goal in the teams’ last meeting, a 1-0 Kansas City home win July 31. … Kansas City last victory in Toronto was a 1-0 win April 28, 2007 — the first-ever game at BMO Field.