• Minnesota 2 (Molino 52’, 62’), Toronto 3 (Giovinco 20’, Ramirez OG 55’, Ricketts 77’)
• Reds extend their franchise-best winning streak to 6 games
• Giovinco, Hernandez and Hagglund subbed out due to injuries
TORONTO – How deep in this year’s Toronto FC side?
Consider that Saturday’s 3-2 win over Minnesota United FC saw five starters from last year’s MLS Cup final on the bench, as was Victor Vazquez, the league’s assist leader this season.
Or that TFC didn’t miss a beat as coach Greg Vanney burned through all three of his substitutions by the 65th minute due to injuries. Or that Vanney made seven lineup changes to a team that was at the end of a gruelling run of games – Saturday’s contest was the Reds’ fifth in 16 days.
All of this working against the Reds, and yet, they still managed to earn a thrilling decision before 27,249 fans at BMO Field.
Tosaint Ricketts was the hero, scoring on a header in the 77th minute to propel Toronto to a franchise-best sixth consecutive win in MLS, and help the Reds maintain their top spot in the overall league standings.
“It’s five wins in 16 days. I don’t know that that’s ever been done before [in MLS]. Nobody said that the last one was going to be easy,” Vanney stated.
Up 2-1 in the 62nd minute, Vanney was about to sub off an injured Nick Hagglund and bring on fellow defender Justin Morrow. When Minnesota tied things up from the penalty spot, Vanney promptly told Morrow to sit down, and he brought on Vazquez. A draw wasn’t enough. TFC wanted the win. Instead of playing it safe, Vanney went for it. It’s that kind of attitude that has served him and his side well during this unprecedented winning streak.
“There’s a winning mentality [within TFC]. There’s an aggressive mentality,” Vanney said. “Does one point do us a tonne of good or does going for three points do us [more] good?”
He later added: “The guys are exhausted. They’ve put a lot into this stretch. It exceeded any of our expectations in terms of taking points in every game. They take a lot of pride in what they’ve accomplished.”
The major challenge ahead for Vanney is keeping everybody happy, as there are only so many minutes to go around for his stable of starters and backups.
“I think we have an incredibly deep side with guys who are capable of starting on a lot of teams around this league that don’t always get to start for us. … We have a good team that can win on any day regardless of who I put out there,” Vanney claimed.
It’s been some week for Ricketts. The Edmonton native bagged a late brace in Toronto’s 2-1 road win over the Columbus Crew on Wednesday, his first goals of the season. Ricketts earned a rare start on Saturday at the expense of Jozy Altidore, playing up top with Sebastian Giovinco, who returned after missing two games with a heel injury.
“You could see how much it meant to all of us. To get that win, it’s big; it’s massive,” Ricketts said of his winning goal.
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The first half saw TFC carry the majority of the play, although the Reds did live dangerously at times with some sloppy possession at both ends of the field. Lucky for them, Minnesota didn’t capitalize. Toronto struggled to break down the visitors who played six players across the box when the home side pressed.
The breakthrough came when Canadian youngster Raheem Edwards showed some fancy footwork as he drove towards the byline before being hacked down inside the area by Minnesota’s Abu Danladi, who squandered a glorious coring chance later in the half. It was a stone-cold penalty that Giovinco dispatched by going right down the middle.
The Italian’s day didn’t last long. He was subbed out in the 44th minute due to tightness in his quad, and was replaced by Altidore. Minnesota nearly equalized just before the break but TFC goalkeeper Alex Bono made a fantastic save to tip Miguel Ibarra’s curling shot just over the crossbar.
Vanney made another change at the start of the second half, this time replacing Jason Hernandez (due to illness) with fellow defender Eriq Zavaleta.
Minnesota levelled the score shortly after the restart, feasting on a defensive breakdown that saw Danladi feed Kevin Molino, who quickly turned Hagglund and whipped a shot past Bono. Toronto responded within minutes when Michael Bradley floated in a free kick to the back post where Minnesota’s Christian Ramirez bundled it into his own net under pressure from TFC defender Chris Mavinga.
Toronto again shot itself in the foot moments later, this time failing to clear its lines and giving away a needless corner kick. On the ensuing corner, Edwards was called for a hand ball inside the area. Molino’s penalty attempt was stopped by Bono, but he quickly pounced on the rebound to tie the game.
Hagglund was forced out of the match with a knee injury, forcing Vanney to use his final sub. The final twist in the tale came when Altidore bullied his way between two defenders to keep the play alive and then floated a perfect cross from the end-line into the middle for Ricketts to head home.
“It was an incredible effort by Jozy just to keep the ball moving forward. To get to the end-line and to hang up a cross, and Tos in that instance kept the game in front of him which gave himself a chance to go and rise above everybody else, and head it in,” Vanney offered.
NOTES: Vanney said after the game that Hagglund would have an MRI to determine the seriousness of his knee injury… Vanney also confirmed Canadian midfielder Jonathan Osorio had to come out of the Columbus game last Wednesday due to an irregular heartbeat. The team is waiting to hear from doctors regarding a diagnosis on Osorio… The last team to win six straight in one MLS season was New England in 2015… Saturday was the first and only regular-season meeting between Toronto and Minnesota this year… Next up for TFC is a road game versus the New York Red Bulls on May 19.
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