TORONTO - They were outplayed, the midfield looked a shambles and captain Claudio Reyna was nowhere to be found in the first half. But the New York Red Bulls left BMO Field on Wednesday night with a 2-1 win against Toronto FC and they have Juan Pablo Angel to thank for that.
The Colombian international scored twice inside of two minutes midway through the second half, erasing New York's 1-0 halftime deficit. He whipped home a free kick from some 25 yards out, freezing Toronto 'keeper Srdjan Djekanovic to pull the Red Bulls level in the 69th minute, then knocked in a deflected cross two minutes later for the eventual game-winner.
One point, let alone three, seemed unlikely with the way the Red Bulls played in the first half.
With four starters out because of various ailments, Bruce Arena made a few surprising changes to the Red Bulls' starting XI against Toronto. Taylor Graham started in place of Jeff Parke, who left Saturday's match at Kansas City with a tight hamstring.
Markus Schopp made his first start of the year, playing right back while Seth Stammler filled in on the left. Graham and Carlos Mendes started centrally. The midfield consisted of Reyna and Dema Kovalenko in the middle with Dane Richards and Dave van den Bergh out wide.
While Angel and John Wolyniec have made a good partnership of late, Arena instead went with Altidore and Angel up front.
Schopp seemed uncomfortable as a right back, especially in the first half. He either dived in and fouled, as was the case with a two-footed tackle on Andy Welsh that earned him a yellow card in the 33rd minute, or he gave up too much space, allowing Welsh to use his pace to create down the flank.
The midfield appeared disorganized in the opening 45 minutes and Reyna was a non-factor in the first half.
After an early chance that Altidore fired well over the goal, the Red Bulls best scoring chance came a minute before the halftime break when a good combination set up a Reyna corner, which Angel headed wide at the far post.
Toronto FC deservedly took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute, capitalizing on a Red Bulls mistake in midfield. Welsh attacked the space down the left side, ran inside the box and cut the ball back to Jeff Cunningham, who buried his first goal for TFC past Conway, again filling in for an injured Ronald Waterreus.
The Red Bulls played with more poise at the start of the second half as Kovalenko pushed a side volley over the net from the top of the 18-yard box and Angel headed a van den Bergh corner wide in the first six minutes after the break. Angel had another opportunity, but his header was cleared off the line by Welsh in the 57th minute.
In the 61st minute, van den Bergh played a perfect ball through that freed Altidore to goal. But the 17-year-old had little on his shot and it was saved easily by Djekanovic, filling in for Greg Sutton who is with the Canadian national team at the Gold Cup.
Angel leveled on 69 minutes following a questionable foul called on Andrew Boyens on Altidore. He froze Toronto 'keeper Srdjan Djekanovic with the free kick, a bullet from 25 yards out.
Two minutes later, Angel put the Red Bulls in front, tapping in a deflected cross from the right inside the six-yard box for his sixth goal in five games. The former Aston Villa ran to the corner flag and celebrated with his teammates as irate TFC fans showered them with beer.
Toronto, which had won three of its last four at BMO Field, threatened to equalize in the 77th minute. But Jon Conway dived to his right to get a hand on Edson Buddle's shot after a quick restart by Danny Dichio. One minute before full time, Ronnie O'Brien just pushed a shot just wide of Conway that seemed destined for inside the far post.
Deep into the third minute of stoppage time, Maurice Edu fired over the net, which turned out to be the final play of the game.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
