How about those Boys
from the Toronto FC, after decades of frustrations, now their best is yet to
come from this squad plagued with a spectacular and hungry initial eleven.
From one feat after
another, and sporting their second back-to-back postseason appearances, this
time the FC Boys came prepared to put on a show in front of their faithful in
BMO Stadium.
Lucky is the word to
describe how the TFC opened their first match at home, after coming from a knockout
round win over the Philadelphia Union, after this win, the Canadian squad is displaying a wondrous football.
Playing against a
fiery NYCFC, a squad labeled as an overall favorite and having all the elements
to win the league as the new kid in the league and in its second year the Big
Apple Boys finished first in the Eastern Conference.
Considered as an all-time
challenge and aware of the rival in front of them, the TFC Manager Greg Vanney
out on a very defensive 3-5-2 formation to counter the New York Boys offensive might
despite missing several key of its starters.
This time for the New
Yorkers Manager Patrick Vieira, making all types of moves in his initial eleven,
he sent a 4-3-3 formation and without Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard in the
bench as a possible substitute.
The NYCFC was ready
to make its debut after their bye and with a rival of the likes of the TFC,
their Boss was ready to put a stand and try to generate an upset at home over
the home squad that had all of its starters.
With the TFC starting
the hostilities and putting a certain touch of dominance in this match with
several attempts to beat the posts defended by Erik Johansen who earned its pay
after stopping in the first half the Reds barrage.
With the match going
to zeroes into halftime and later on continuing with the same score despite the
TFC efforts, it is when a jubilant and opportune Jozy Altidore took matters into
his own and scored the first goal of the match with a cannon of a shoot.
With a 1-0, score the
whole of BMO went into a nonstop frenzy and a match that its referee Silviu
Petrescu let go and became indifferent to several fouls and calls not made to David
Villa with a flagrant kick over Armando Cooper worth a red.
The game went on, the
dominance of the Toronto Boys was very evident, and in stoppage, time it’s when
came a peculiar play when Tosaint Ricketts put the go-ahead goal for to wrap up
a wonderful and meritorious afternoon for the locals.
However the 2-0 lead
going to the Bronx and play the NYCFC and possibly these will have in their
lineup their trio of aces in Pirlo, Lampard and Villa, maybe we will have a
much contested and one of a kind match between these two.
Also the TFC will
have its trio of aces in Altidore, Bradley and Giovinco and this latter one
even though he did not score, still his
presence created a lot of open spaces for his teammates and hence the results.
By opening the
prospects of a match back south in the Big Apple to try to seal the deal and continue
with their momentum and seek their first ever all around conference final that
can be leaning into an all Canadian final in the East.
Still we have second
legs to play and these to decide who will be the one that will advance to the
next rounds and this will come from their ambition and drive to excel in this
edition of the 2016 postseason.
At the end will the
TFC prevail or be a bust at the end in New York and fell prey into the Sky
Blues strategies that its Boss put on the first leg and these displayed all of their
energy, but will a 2-0 lead continue or the New Yorker's overcome.
For Greg Vanney and
his TFC the heat is on, these shall overcome the odds and take advantage of the
yellow card accumulations from the New York squad totaling five, and this can
be a shoot in the arm for the Canadians.
Post Contents and Property of Fern
Mc Costigan © Copyright All Rights Reserved
Photos Credit, Courtesy and Property
of © Nick Turchiaro- USA TODAY 2016
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