TORONTO FC v FC DALLAS
BMO FIELD, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1:15 p.m. ET (TeleFutura; CBC)
June 17, 2007 (WEEK 11) / MLS Game #71
Toronto FC return to action after a 10-day layoff as they entertain an FC Dallas side which, for the fourth time this season, in playing the back end of a Thursday-Sunday double. TFC comes off a loss to the New York Red Bulls on June 6, having righted their ship with three home wins in the last five games at Exhibition Place - but this is their last home match for six weeks, while the FIFA U-20 World Cup comes to Canada. FC Dallas has won two games in a row, last another dramatic finish at Real Salt Lake, getting yet another stoppage time goal for a 1-0 victory.
REFEREE: Silviu Petrescu. SAR (bench): Amato DeLuca; JAR (opposite): Daniel Belleau; 4th: Jonathon Lavergne
MLS Career: 3 games; FC/gm: 37.3; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 3; pens: 0
Games involving Toronto FC: P1 W1 L0 T0; FC/gm: 43.0; Y/gm: 3.0; R: 2; pens: 0
Games involving FC Dallas: first game
INJURY REPORT: TORONTO FC - OUT: DF Marco Reda (knee); MF Tyler Hemming (knee); QUESTIONABLE: MF Maurice Edu (hip flexor) ... FC DALLAS - OUT: DF Adrian Serioux (R knee); FW Roberto Mina (L knee); FW Kenny Cooper (R tibia fracture); PROBABLE: MF Ramon Nunez (R groin strain)
SUSPENDED: TOR: Tyrone Marshall (through July 1) ... DAL: Pablo Ricchetti (five cautions; through June 18)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: TOR: Jim Brennan ... DAL: Chris Gbandi; Clarence Goodson; Alex Yi
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: TOR: Greg Sutton, Chris Pozniak, Adam Braz (Canada; CONCACAF Gold Cup); Andrea Lombardo, Cristian Nunez, Stephen Lumley, Nana Attakora-Gyan, Gabe Gala (Canada under-20) ... DAL: Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala; CONCACAF Gold Cup)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME: first meeting
• This is the first ever meeting between the clubs, the first of two on the season. It's the only one set for BMO Field; the return match between the clubs will be played at Pizza Hut Park on Sept. 8.
• Coaches record: Mo Johnston v DAL: P1 W0 L1 D0 ... Steve Morrow vs. TOR: first game
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC lost for just the second time in their last six games, the New York Red Bulls hitting for a two-goal blitz in three minutes in the second half to come away with a 2-1 win at BMO Field on June 6. TFC has 10 points from 10 matches, good for sixth place in the Eastern Conference, entering the weekend two points ahead of the Columbus Crew and four behind the fourth-place between D.C. United and the Chicago Fire.
LAST MATCH
• The Red Bulls had come into the game off a 3-2 loss in Kansas City that followed a pair of impressive shutout wins, while Toronto FC had won three of their last four in their new Exhibition Place home.
• It was the Canadian outfit that grabbed the lead midway through the first half. Andy Welsh intercepted the ball on the left and skipped down the wing, before cutting back a low pass from the byeline inside the penalty area. Jeff Cunningham slipped it to bang it home for his first goal since arriving in Toronto after a trade with Real Salt Lake.
• But Juan Pablo Angel scored twice within three minutes to send the Red Bulls to victory. The first goal was pure class. Winning a disputed free kick some 25 yards out from the left post, Angel bent his freekick to the left side of wall and inside the near stick, leaving TFC 'keeper Srdjan Djekanovic rooted to his line (69).
• Then Dave van den Bergh did good work on the right flank to turn the corner and drive in a bouncing cross that took a deflection off a defender, and Angel ghosted in at the back post to side-foot it home for his second goal in three minutes. It was his sixth league goal in five games for the Red Bulls, and his seventh in all competitions since joining the club.
• TFC boss Mo Johnston made one change to the team that defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-1 the weekend before. With Kevin Goldthwaite suspended, Chris Pozniak dropped back to left back and Carl Robinson returned from national team duty to come back into the center of midfield.
• Here's Johnston's team (4-4-2): Srdjan Djekanovic - Marvell Wynne, Andrew Boyens, Jim Brennan, Chris Pozniak - Ronnie O'Brien, Maurice Edu, Carl Robinson, Andy Welsh (Edson Buddle 75) - Danny Dichio, Jeff Cunningham. Substitutes Not Used: Miguel Canizalez, Gabe Gala, David Guzman, Andrea Lombardo, Joey Melo, Sam Reynolds
• "We were sucker-punched. Listen, they're a very good team, they hold the ball up well," Johnston said. "Juan Pablo Angel was outstanding, on corner kicks he was getting away from Andrew (Boyens). We switched up and put Dichio on him, he (Angel) crawled into the back post for the second goal, and his free kick was world-class."
TEAM NEWS
• Both teams were playing their second game in five days, but TFC had remained at home for the back-to-back games, while the Red Bulls had played both on the road. Over the opening 45 minutes, TFC controlled the match.
• "You're got to be ruthless in front of the goal," Ronnie O'Brien said. "We've got to finish off games. We've got to finish those half-chances. If we had scored a second goal today, we'd win that game pretty easily, I don't think they would've been back in it."
• Despite the loss, the second in the last three games at BMO Field for the Reds, Johnston took a number of positives from this team's performance and noted that his club has come a long way from the team that was outscored 10-0 in their first four games of the season.
• "The way I see it ... the last 3-4 weeks, we're on the up," Johnston said. "For [the press] to sit here talking to me about losing points by not keeping a lead, that's pleasing for me because it's showing that we made a lot of strides in the last couple of months. We held our own against a very, very good team. The way I feel our team can play, we can go up against anyone in the league."
• With Canada advancing to the knockout phase of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, TFC will still be without their Canadian international contingent. As well, Canada's under-20 national team concluded its three-match tour in preparation for the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup with a match against Haiti in Edmonton on Monday.
• Johnston made another roster move over the 10-day break, acquiring center back Tyrone Marshall from the Los Angeles Galaxy for striker Edson Buddle. Buddle did not have a goal in 10 appearances for TFC; Marshall, who had been with the Galaxy since 2002, had one goal in eight matches.
• Marshall should fill a gap in the Toronto FC roster. The Reds, short on center backs, have had to deploy Jim Brennan in the middle of defense. With Marshall now in the fold, Brennan can move out to his natural spot on the left. However, Marshall will be suspended for the first three games with Toronto after he was sent off for a tackle on Kenny Cooper on June 10 that left the FC Dallas striker with a broken right tibia.
• "He's a quality experienced, international defender," said Johnston. "He's played over 200 times in this league ... and he has the experience within this league that we were looking for. Our team is starting to take shape, and obviously we've added a defender and that frees up Brennan to play on the left-hand side and gives us lots of cover."
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas won for the second consecutive match, getting another dramatic late goal at Real Salt Lake to come away with a 1-0 victory on MLS Primetime Thursday. The Hoops now have 22 points from 13 matches - the most in MLS - leading the Western Conference by six points ahead of Houston Dynamo, and two points better than the New York Red Bulls in the overall league table.
LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas had put an end to a brief two-game losing skid with a victory against Los Angeles the weekend before, while RSL was returning to league action after a weekend off, having drawn four of five matches with Jason Kreis in charge, though still looking for a first win on the campaign.
• Both goalkeepers were put to the test. Nick Rimando was called upon to make five of his 10 saves in the first half, including three on Arturo Alvarez in short order midway through the period. FCD 'keeper Dario Sala made a terrific reaction save on Alecko Eskandarian after the break, and defender Chris Gbandi made a last-ditch dive to head away a cross with Chris Klein all alone at the back post.
• The Hoops brought out a couple more saves by Rimando over the final minutes, but just when it seemed another scoreless draw was inevitable, Sala whacked a goal kick downfield and it was headed on by Marcelo Saragosa. Dominic Oduro held off a stumbling Jack Stewart, composed himself, waited for the right bounce in the area and lashed home a volley inside the far post for the winner in the third minute of stoppage time.
• It was the third time in the last four games in Salt Lake City that FCD has snatched a result in stoppage time. In the season opener this year, Carlos Ruiz scored the equalizer two minutes into added time for a 2-2 draw. Almost exactly a year ago, on July 22, Abe Thompson got behind the Real defense for the game's only goal three minutes after the full 90 had expired.
• FCD head coach Steve Morrow made no changes to the team that defeated the Galaxy 3-1 the Saturday before at home, remaining with his new-look attack.
• Here's Morrow's team (4-3-3): Dario Sala - Drew Moor, Clarence Goodson, Alex Yi, Chris Gbandi - Pablo Ricchetti, Juan Toja,Marcelo Saragosa - Dominic Oduro, Abe Thompson (Dax McCarty 83), Arturo Alvarez. Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Ramon Nunez, Aaron Pitchkolan, Bobby Rhine, David Wagenfuhr, Anthony Wallace
• "I think that was the third time we've done that here - score late in the game. But to be honest, I think it was just exactly what we deserved. We had a few good opportunities to score in the first half and we didn't take them; and we came in a little bit disappointed at halftime that we dominated play so much in the first half. We passed and moved the ball very well and created good opportunities and should have come in a few goals [ahead] at halftime," Morrow said. "Sometimes it takes that long in the game to get the goal; we got it right at the end but I thought it was justified."
TEAM NEWS
• With Carlos Ruiz still out with Guatemala - which advanced to the knockout phase of the CONCACAF Gold Cup - and now Kenny Cooper out for a couple of months after suffering a broken lower leg in the Galaxy match, Morrow was suddenly with few options in attack.
• "We've had a lot of bad fortune already this year. We've lost [Kenny] Cooper, [Carlos] Ruiz, and [Roberto] Mina - three big forwards for our team. And also Adrian Serioux, a big part of our defensive plans. It's been very tough on us, but we said from the start of the season that we had a deep roster and that everybody would play their part," Morrow said. "And Dominic Oduro, and Abe Thompson, and Arturo [Alvarez], people like that have stepped up and contributed very well to this team. I always knew that they would. I have great belief in all of the players here, especially some of our younger talent and they all stepped up and played their part tonight."
• Of FCD's last seven goals, four have come from the three-pronged strike force of Oduro, Thompson and Alvarez that Morrow installed for the first meeting against RSL, and has been in use for four of the five games since.
• "In a way I think Abe Thompson plays the same way as Carlos Ruiz. Carlos is good at keeping the ball and releasing it, but at the end of the day Abe Thompson did his job," Oduro said. "It all comes down to the same thing, it doesn't matter who plays, it matters on how much work you put into the game."
• While the victory was certainly celebrated, the Hoops were thrilled to have kept a clean sheet for the first time since Sept. 2, 2006 (a 1-0 win against Houston) - a span of 19 games.
• "That was the biggest cheer going into the locker room after the game. It's been a long time coming. Like I said before, we defended well in games and the most important thing to me is getting three points in games. But it's an extra bonus to get a clean sheet," Morrow said. Said Chris Gbandi: "It feels pretty good. We had some games where we played pretty well and we gave up some pretty bad goals. Today we didn't feel we played as well ... Dario [Sala] made some good saves for us and then we end up getting a clean sheet. It's just a matter of getting a little lucky here and there."
• In addition to the stoppage time goals to grab a result, FC Dallas has just gotten late results period against RSL. Chris Gbandi's 82nd-minute goal gave FCD a 2-1 win at Pizza Hut Park in their previous meeting this year. "We were just talking about that. I think Abe [Thompson] had one last year, I had one, Carlos [Ruiz] had one, and obviously [Dominic Oduro]. I don't know ... I guess there's something about the water out here," Gbandi said.
