If they awarded you something for moral victories then Toronto FC would have claimed three points on Sunday.
A TFC side missing five key starters—Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Steven Caldwell, Damien Perquis and Justin Morrow—and fielding a makeshift defence put forth a valiant effort in a 2-1 road loss to Real Salt Lake.
The Reds appeared to have secured a valuable point when substitute Jackson scored in the 88th minute to level the score. But Salt Lake retook the lead just a minute later when TFC’s defence switched off and Jordan Allen netted the winner. The more things change the more they stay the same, eh?
Here are my three takeaways from Sunday’s match.
Morgan and Simonin bright spots
Let’s start with the positive. This one had disaster written all over it, what with Caldwell and Morrow ruled out several days before the team boarded the plane to Utah.
Then the team sheet came out an hour before kickoff. Greg Vanney decided not to take a chance on Perquis (slow to recover from an injury) and slotted rookie Clement Simonin next to sophomore Nick Hagglund in the centre of defence. With three of TFC’s four defensive starters missing, conventional wisdom suggested that RSL was going to pick apart the Reds’ back line.
But aside from the two moments that led to the goals (and the overall play of right back Warren Creavalle) TFC’s back line performed admirably. Simonin looked solid in his MLS debut, and a displayed a fearlessness (he didn’t pull of a tackle for a 50/50 ball battle with Sebastian Jaime that sent the RSL veteran sprawling to the turf) and generally looked commanding in the centre of defence.
According to TFC, the Frenchman is very good on the ball and able to comfortably play it out from the back. On this night we didn’t see any of that—he kept things simple and didn’t try to do too much, which was smart considering the situation.
Recalled this week from TFC’s USL farm team, Ashtone Morgan had his best game in years at left fullback filling in for the absent Morrow. Defensively, he was well-positioned throughout the game, and he was even better going forward, delivering a number of deadly crosses into the box that caused the hosts all kinds of issues. The young Canadian played with a great deal of confidence and poise. A wonderful surprise on the night for TFC.
Lapses in concentration
It would have been very harsh to blame the first RSL goal on TFC’s defence.
Javier Morales was afforded all kinds of time on the ball on the left flank, as he was not closed down by midfielder Jonathan Osorio, and that allowed him to whip a great cross into the box at the far post. The goal came on Morgan’s side, but the Canadian was dutifully marking his man. Teammate Benoit Cheyrou stood like a statue on the edge of the box, allowing Luke Mulholland to glide into the penalty area uncontested before beating Joe Bendik.
The second goal came as a result of the back line mentally shutting off after watching Jackson score the equalizer just moments before. RSL marched down the field and Morales delivered another quality cross into the middle of the box where Allen connected on a header after not being picked up by any TFC defender.
“The same way we gave up the first goal, we gave up the second goal. We talked about Morales and staying with it. We lose guys in the box,” Vanney told Sportsnet after the game.
Hagglund goal should have stood
Hagglund appeared to have scored earlier in the second half to tie things up long before Jackson came on but the referee immediately waived it off for a foul committed by the TFC defender inside the box.
Replays showed that while Hagglund’s hand did make contact with an RSL player, it was hardly a foul. His goal should have stood.
Now in the end it really didn’t matter, as ultimately it was TFC’s shortcomings in those two key moments outlined earlier that cost them a share of the points.
Still, there’s no denying that luck has not been on TFC’s side, as this is the second straight game when they had a controversial call go against them—last time out Morrow was harshly red carded just before halftime against Columbus.
Vanney doesn’t see it as some sort of conspiracy against TFC, but he is, nonetheless, frustrated as the club is trying to carve out results on this challenging seven-game road stretch to begin the season.
“My impression—the red card last week, not necessarily a red card. A goal here today… it’s difficult when you start seven games on the road and you’re playing from a situation where we should have a goal. We need that goal. You need those breaks when you’re on the road for seven games and we’re not getting them right now,” Vanney said.
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