TORONTO FC v NEW YORK RED BULLS
BMO FIELD, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
7 p.m. ET (RSN-N; MSG)
June 6, 2007 (WEEK 10) / MLS Game #60
Winners now of three of their last four in their suddenly impregnable BMO Field fortress, Toronto FC play host to the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night. TFC is now in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, with three wins and a draw in their last five matches overall. The Red Bulls come off a loss last weekend in Kansas City which ended a two-game winning run - both by shutout. After allowing just four goals all season to that point, the Red Bulls were hit for three goals in K.C. - all from Eddie Johnson.
REFEREE: Tim Weyland. SAR (bench): Greg Barkey; JAR (opposite): Bill Dittmar; 4th: Silviu Petrescu
MLS Career: 67 games; FC/gm: 30.8; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 18; pens: 17
Games involving Toronto FC: first game
Games involving Red Bulls: P8 W3 L3 T2; FC/gm: 31.0; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 3; pens: 5
INJURY REPORT: TORONTO FC - OUT: DF Marco Reda (knee); MF Tyler Hemming (knee) ... NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: DF Hunter Freeman (L ankle sprain); FW Mike Magee (R knee surgery recovery); MF Blake Camp (L ankle sprain); DOUBTFUL: DF Todd Dunivant (L quadriceps strain);QUESTIONABLE: GK Ronald Waterreus (L ankle sprain); PROBABLE: DF Jeff Parke (L hamstring tightness)
SUSPENDED: TOR: Kevin Goldthwaite (through June 7) ... NY: Clint Mathis (through June 7)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: TOR: Jim Brennan; Alecko Eskandarian ... NY: Jozy Altidore
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: TOR: Greg Sutton, Adam Braz (Canada; CONCACAF Gold Cup); Andrea Lombardo, Cristian Nunez, Stephen Lumley, Nana Attakora-Gyan, Gabe Gala (Canada under-20)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME: first meeting
• This is the first ever meeting between the clubs, the first of three on the season. It's first of two set for BMO Field; first, they will play at Giants Stadium on Aug. 12, then meet at Exhibition Place again on Oct. 4.
• Coaches record: Mo Johnston v NY: first game ... Bruce Arena vs. TOR: first game
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC won for the third time on the season - all at their new home north of the border - defeating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 last Saturday at BMO Field. TFC is now in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 10 points from nine matches, a point behind D.C. United and two ahead of the Columbus Crew, nine points out of first place.
LAST MATCH
• Toronto FC had followed two wins with a loss and a draw, and were missing a host of players through international duty. The Rapids were unbeaten in four games and had won their last two outings on their travels.
• In front of another lusty crowd at Exhibition Place, Danny Dichio put TFC in front in the ninth minute. Marvell Wynne did all the work on the right flank, turning the corner and skipping through two defenders before driving in a low ball that Dichio redirected home from close range.
• The Canadian outfit doubled the lead in the 29th minute. A corner came in from the left and center back Andrew Boyens rose up to nod it home, the first career MLS goal for the man who won his first cap for New Zealand the week before.
• The Rapids pulled a goal back just three minutes later. Conor Casey took the ball in midfield and slipped a ball for Herculez Gomez to run onto, and he sent an angled shot from the right side past MLS debutant Srdjan Djekanovic.
• TFC was forced to play the final nine minutes a man down after Kevin Goldthwaite was sent off with a straight red by referee Steven DePiero for an off-the-ball incident, but Colorado could not find an equalizer.
• Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston had to make just two changes to the team that played to a 2-2 draw in Columbus the previous Saturday. Andrew Boyens returned from international duty, and came in for Marco Reda in central defense, while Srdjan Djekanovic made his MLS debut in goal in place of Greg Sutton.
• Here's Johnston's team (4-4-2): Srdjan Djekanovic - Marvell Wynne, Andrew Boyens, Jim Brennan, Kevin Goldthwaite - Ronnie O'Brien, Maurice Edu, Chris Pozniak, Andy Welsh (Gabe Gala 66) - Danny Dichio (Miguel Canizalez 83), Jeff Cunningham (Edson Buddle 95+). Substitutes Not Used: David Guzman, Andrea Lombardo, Joey Melo, Sam Reynolds
• "I felt in the first half, we opened up a very good team. We created a bunch of chances - they didn't go in, but you know what, they're going to start going in because the amount of chances that he gets (Jeff Cunningham), he's going to start finishing them," Johnston said.
TEAM NEWS
• With the three Canadian national team players away for the friendly with Venezuela, Johnston did have a few more substitutes available that originally envisioned. Andrea Lombardo and Gabe Gala were released by the Canadian under-20 team to play in the game, while Chris Pozniak started - he is a reserve for the Canadian's Gold Cup team.
• "I felt today was a vital three points," Johnston said. "We had guys missing and our schedule was very tough coming into this. When you analyze the last four or five games, this team has battled. They've shown character and resilience."
• In addition, Andrew Boyens was available after a scheduled friendly for New Zealand was canceled - and scored a goal. This week, Johnston will again have Carl Robinson back, off international duty for Wales (though he "suffered a knock" in the match against the Czech Republic at the weekend, said Johnston.)
• "It was great to have a solid performance over there. It was my first cap and to play the way I did is good. It's great coming off that, but I feel I've been playing better and better for Toronto," Boyens said of his international experience with New England. Said Johnston: "Andrew going away and getting some experience with New Zealand against Wales has helped him. He came back and had a great game."
• Goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic made his debut, starting in goal in place of Greg Sutton, away with the Canadian national team for its 2-2 friendly draw with Venezuela in preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Djekanovic had been a backup for the Vancouver Whitecaps for the previous two seasons, and also spent three seasons in Serbia as a reserve before coming to the University of British Columbia.
• "I felt he handled it well, he thought he could have got to the goal, but when you come in (first start) - he recorded his first victory, I'm very happy for him," Johnston said. "Again, this was a very good team, second half we battled and we didn't give up too many chances, I felt we could have kept the ball a little bit longer."
• While Cunningham didn't play a real part in either TFC goal, the club's attack has been greatly transformed since his arrival in the May 22 deal with Real Salt Lake. Toronto has scored four goals in the two games he's played in, compared to just five in the previous seven.
• "Jeff Cunningham will keep any defense stretched," Johnston said. "That's the part I like because it opens up the midfield for the likes of a Ronnie O'Brien or a Carl Robinson or a Maurice Edu. Is Jeff disappointed he's not scored in both games? Of course he is. I tell you what, though, he's gonna get goals for TFC,"
• The assist - after a sparking run in the corner where he nutmegged a defender - was Wynne's first for Toronto. He had three in his rookie season with the Red Bulls.
• "It's like a doorway opening," Wynne said. "It's like, 'I did it,' and then you feel free, you have so much more time on you. My offensive skills are limited at best, but ... I think it's to my advantage that people know I'm fast. I can fake one way, go the other and beat them to the punch."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls lost for just the second time on the season, after a pair of shutout victories, falling to the Kansas City Wizards 3-2 at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday evening. The Red Bulls dropped into third place in the Eastern Conference with 17 points from nine matches, a point behind the New England Revolution and now two behind the Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• The Wizards came into the game off a first victory in three games, a 4-3 victory at New England, paced by Johnson's first career hat trick. The Red Bulls had moved to the top of the East and the MLS overall table thanks to a pair of impressive shutout wins, defeating Columbus 4-0 and Chicago 3-0.
• The Red Bulls took an early lead, thanks once again to Colombian striker Juan Pablo Angel. Claudio Reyna flighted in a cross from the right side, and John Wolyniec flicked it on with a header. Angel came sliding in from behind and volleyed it home for his fourth league goal and fifth in all competitions since joining the Red Bulls in early May.
• But the game changed in the 35th minute. Hassled in midfield by Kerry Zavagnin, Clint Mathis threw out his elbow trying to hold off the Kansas City defender, and referee Jair Marrufo immediately sent him off.
• With the man advantage, the Wizards leveled the score almost immediately after the break. Michael Harrington dropped a ball in behind the Red Bulls defense and Johnson caught up with it first, looping a shot over New York 'keeper Jon Conway. Johnson then doubled the advantage in the 59th minute, after he calmly side-footed home a low, driven cross by Jose Burciaga Jr. from the left flank.
• The seventh-year striker cemented his place in history in the 85th minute. On the counter, Sasha Victorine came forward before releasing Johnson between defenders with a classic through ball, and Johnson banged it home. It also gave him the league lead with nine goals on the campaign.
• The Red Bulls still had some fight left, pulling a goal back just three minutes later. A clearance from a ball lofted into the area came out to Dema Kovalenko, and his long-range effort through the crowded goalmouth found its way into the back of the net, but New York couldn't find their way all the way back.
• Red Bulls manager Bruce Arena made one change to the team that defeated the Chicago Fire 3-0 at Giants Stadium 10 days earlier. Claudio Reyna came back into the team in central midfield, with Seth Stammler moving to left back, as Jozy Altidore returned to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Jon Conway - Dema Kovalenko, Carlos Mendes, Jeff Parke (Taylor Graham 46), Seth Stammler (Jozy Altidore 81) - Dane Richards, Claudio Reyna, Clint Mathis, Dave van den Bergh - John Wolyniec (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 55), Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Sal Caccavale, Danny Cepero, Tim Regan, Markus Schopp
• "Obviously playing with 10 players certainly helped our opponent, although that's not an excuse," Arena said. "But obviously that is one of the differences."
TEAM NEWS
• The match started off brightly enough for the Red Bulls, getting the goal from Angel after just eight minutes. It was his fourth goal in the last three league matches; he also scored in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying match.
• "I think the goal was a good movement by the team," Angel said. "I managed to hit it well and I think it was a good finish. But I think from then on, it was all uphill. It was hard and they came out really well in the second half and we weren't smart enough to hold them up. I think we held on as much as we could, but it is hard to play for 90 minutes, with 60 minutes one man down."
• All three Johnson goals were somewhat identical, as balls from the Kansas City half got in behind the Red Bulls back line for the U.S. international to finish.
• "I wouldn't say they only played the long ball even though a bunch of balls beat us over the top. We played very poorly to start the second half. We got caught out," Arena said. "Give Kansas City credit - they did a good job of getting Eddie Johnson behind us."
• Equally troubling to the Red Bulls was their response to the Mathis red card. They went into the halftime break with the lead, but failed to protect it.
• "We started off well getting the go-ahead goal. Then we went into the locker room up 1-0 - we knew what to expect," said Dave van den Bergh. "Then with about 30 seconds into the second half the ball is in our net, and that kind of took it out of us. It shouldn't have, but it gave them a whole lot of momentum. Then they waltzed right over us in the first 15 minutes of the second half."
• It was the second time this season Mathis has been sent off with a direct red card. He was ejected 36 minutes into the Red Bulls 1-0 win against Houston Dynamo on April 21." I think it was justified," Arena said. "He felt he was fouled a couple of times, but that shouldn't be his reaction after getting fouled. There was no excuse for Clint throwing an elbow."
