TORONTO — If only they could all be this easy.
Toronto FC forgot their MLS woes for one night by putting on a barnstorming performance Wednesday, cruising to a 5-1 win over Club Deportivo Aguila in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Luis Silva, Reggie Lambe and Terry Dunfield scored first-half goals for the Reds, who totally outclassed the reigning champions of El Salvador before an announced crowd of 5,324 fans at BMO Field. Lambe added a second goal just after halftime, and Ryan Johnson continued his torrid scoring pace in the Champions League (he scored five times in last season’s tournament) with a goal in the 58th minute.
To be fair, the lopsided score was partly attributable to Aguila arriving in Toronto just a few hours before kickoff. According to their coach Victor Coreas, the team missed its connecting flight in Miami on Tuesday, and had to spend the night in the airport before flying out Wednesday.
Still, the final score flattered the humble visitors from San Miguel, and the damage could have been far worse. Toronto fell just shy of tying a team record for most goals in one game: a 6-1 win over the Montreal Impact in the 2009 Canadian club championship.
Lambe could have had four goals on the night, leaving the Bermuda international to bemoan his lack of finishing after the game.
“I should have had a hat trick. I had two chances at it — a volley and one where (Johnson) played me through that I should have scored on. Hat tricks only come around so many times in your career, so I’m really disappointed I didn’t get it,” Lambe admitted.
TFC temporarily tops its three-team, round-robin group with three points. Santos Laguna of Mexico plays its opening match on Aug. 21 at home against Aguila.
After a disappointing 2-0 home loss to Houston in MLS on Saturday, TFC coach Paul Mariner was hoping for a better effort from his players against Aguila. Mariner got it, and he suggested that beating Aguila by four goals was not as easy as it looked.
“I just think they caught us on a good night. We were poor against Houston … I asked for a response and I got a response,” Mariner said.
This was a must-win game for Toronto, as only the group winner advances to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, so picking up maximum points at home is vital for the Reds with a tricky away trip to Mexico ahead.
This tournament also provides Toronto with a chance to salvage something from what is turning out to be a disastrous 2012. The club lost its first nine games of the MLS season to effectively rule itself out of the playoffs by June, a new low for a struggling franchise still searching for its first post-season berth.
TFC answered the challenge Wednesday, asserting its dominance right from the opening kickoff. Afforded acres of open space in midfield, captain Torsten Frings sublimely pulled the creative strings and effectively linked up with Ashtone Morgan down the right flank.
After two early scoring chances from Doneil Henry, the Reds took the lead in the ninth minute after Silva headed home off a Frings corner kick. Silva turned provider eight minutes later, expertly pulling the ball back into the middle for Lambe to nestle inside the far post, completing a lovely passing play instigated by Johnson.
It was a flawless start for the Reds, one that was completely undone by Milos Kocic in the 37th minute. The TFC goalkeeper couldn’t handle a long-range free kick, and Aguila forward Yaikel Perez was there to pounce on the rebound.
It proved only a momentary setback. Morgan fed a pass deep into the box that Dunfield managed to redirect past Aguila goalkeeper Benji Villalobos to restore TFC’s two-goal cushion in the 40th minute.
Morgan set up another goal in the 48th minute, this time Lambe beating Villalobos with a low drive inside the near post.
Johnson got in on the fun ten minutes later, taking a Silva pass and easily coasting by an Aguila defender before rounding Villalobos and slotting it into an empty net.
The game settled down into a comfortable rhythm after that, with TFC running out the clock.
NOTES: Toronto returns to MLS action on Saturday when it visits the Chicago Fire… Toronto’s next Champions League match is Aug. 28 at home against Mexico’s Santos Laguna. After that, it visits Aguila on Sept. 25 before travelling to Mexico to play Santos on Oct. 24… TFC lost to Santos Laguna in the semifinals of the 2011-12 Champions League… Mariner said the club hopes to announce the signing of a new defender by Friday…