TORONTO FC vs. KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
BMO FIELD, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
April 26, 2008 | 3:30 p.m. ET (CBC; MetroSports)
WEEK # 5 | GAME # 30
Two teams that have been early stories in the Eastern Conference face off at BMO Field when Toronto FC play host to the Kansas City Wizards. TFC has won back-to-back games for the first time in nearly a year, coming off a victory against Real Salt Lake in their first appearance of the season on the shores of Lake Ontario. The Wizards started their six-game road trip in the best possible fashion, defeating the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park and in the process moved into top spot in not only the division but also the MLS overall table.
REFEREE:
Kevin Stott. SAR (bench): Nate Clement; JAR (opposite): Joe Fletcher; 4th: Steven DePiero
MLS Career: 146 games; FC/gm: 26.7; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 38; pens: 32
INJURY REPORT:
TORONTO FC - NONE REPORTED ... KANSAS CITY WIZARDS - OUT: MF Davy Arnaud (hamstring strain), DF Matt Marquess (hamstring strain), MF Ryan Pore (broken nose), MF Lance Watson (fractured foot); QUESTIONABLE: DF Rauwshan McKenzie (ankle sprain) PROBABLE: MF Carlos Marinelli (groin strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES:
none
SUSPENDED:
none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (3 meetings): Toronto FC 0 wins, 1 goal ... Wizards 2 wins, 5 goals ... Ties 1
AT BMO FIELD (1 meeting): Toronto FC 0 wins, 0 goals... Wizards 1 win, 1 goal ... Ties 0
• This is the first of three meetings between the teams this year, the first of two at BMO Field. Their next encounter will also be in Ontario, on June 21, before concluding the season series in the only meeting at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Sept. 20.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
4/25: KC 3, TOR 0 (Johnson 5; Zavagnin 55; Movsisyan 70)
4/28: TOR 0, KC 1 (Johnson 81)
7/1: KC 1, TOR 1 (Harrington 18 - Dichio 46)
• Kansas City won two of the three meetings between the teams in Toronto FC's inaugural campaign last year, with a draw in the third.
• The two wins came in both ends of a home-and-home series over four days, Eddie Johnson scoring in each as the Wizards won 3-0 in K.C. then 1-0 in the first game ever at BMO Field.
• Coaches record: John Carver v RSL: first game ... Curt Onalfo vs. TOR: P3 W2 L0 D1
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC began their home campaign in style, winning back-to-back games for just the second time in club history in a 1-0 victory against Real Salt Lake last Saturday afternoon. TFC has six points from four matches, sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, four points off the pace of the Kansas City Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• Toronto FC were returning home following just the club's second-ever win on the road, a 3-2 victory at the Los Angeles Galaxy, while Real Salt Lake were coming off their first victory of the new season, 4-0 at home against D.C. United.
• The game's lone goal came just after the half-hour mark. Amado Guevara was tripped up almost right on the line marking the penalty area, and Laurent Robert drove the resulting free kick under the RSL wall and past goalkeeper Nick Rimando for his first MLS goal.
• Real were held without an attempt at goal over the opening 45 minutes, but turned the tide in the second half. Yet their best chance didn't find the target, a full volley from Dema Kovalenko screwing well wide of the right-hand post from the heart of the area.
• TFC head coach John Carver made one change to the team that defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 at The Home Depot Center the previous weekend. Rohan Ricketts made his TFC and MLS debut, coming into the midfield for Jarrod Smith.
• Here's Carver's team (4-4-1-1): Greg Sutton - Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Marco Velez, Jim Brennan - Rohan Ricketts (Jarrod Smith 84), Maurice Edu, Carl Robinson, Laurent Robert (Todd Dunivant 81) - Amado Guevara - Danny Dichio (Jeff Cunningham 90). Substitutes Not Used: Brian Edwards, Kevin Harmse, Julius James, Andrea Lombardo
• "We've had one or two critics about the way we defended, I thought the second in particular we had to defend, it was the cliché game of a game of two halves, and it certainly was today," Carver said. "But I thought we defended ever so well, we put our bodies on the line, I thought Sutz (Sutton) took the pressure off us by coming and taking a few catches which helps your back four. I thought the midfield worked their socks off and defended well, as did Danny Dichio, and Guevara."
TEAM NEWS
• After defeating the Galaxy 3-2 in Los Angeles last Sunday and now the win against RSL, Toronto FC stands at .500 for the first time in club history.
• "After what we did last week, I was a bit worried about them coming in here today and being complacent," said Carver. "We've set a standard and we've got to continue that. As I said at halftime, the only way you're going to lose the game is by being complacent. That's the key word today. I've been in these situations many many times ... and it's very difficult to try to motivate a side after you've dominated a game, completely dominated a first half like we did."
• In spite of their many chances in the first half, Toronto still held only the one-goal lead after 45 minutes. TFC was outshot 7-4 in the second half, but none of RSL's shots resulted in serious scoring opportunities.
• "I said to the guys at halftime, 'if I'm [RSL coach Jason Kreis], I'm in there giving them a right rollicking. So expect them to come out quick and fast and put you under pressure, and they did that," Carver said. "And to be fair to our lads, they were in there in the trenches and they had to deal with it. ... But if you think about it, [goalkeeper] Greg Sutton didn't have many saves to make, and that's a pleasing thing."
• Sutton made only three saves in the game after being forced to make 11 stops in two other starts this season. It was Sutton's first clean sheet since a 1-0 win against Houston on May 16, 2007, which also happened to be the last time that TFC notched back-to-back victories.
• Saturday's match marked the first time that TFC's three biggest offseason acquisitions (Robert, England's Rohan Ricketts and 2004 MLS MVP Amado Guevara) were all in the lineup together, and their presence allowed the Reds to stretch the field in the first half.
• "They bring a lot to the table," Maurice Edu said. "They're all players who are comfortable on the ball. They like to attack and go forward and create opportunities for us. I think you've already seen the change that it's made. Amado is always busy, finding little gaps to get the ball in there. Robert, he can kick a crazy ball and he has a great left foot. Ricketts, he's a speedy guy and can get behind players. They're all really good players and it creates more options for us attacking-wise."
• It was yet another sellout crowd at Toronto's BMO Field, where season ticket sales were capped this season in the club's second year.
• "I think it was a little more than I imagined. You know you can talk about it, but once you're out there and experience the occasion then there's nothing better," Carver said." I've had some great occasions in my life, and it has to be on the top of the list, I mean the fans were fantastic I'd like them to continue for 90 minutes, but it's certainly going to be an intimidating place to play and we want to make it that."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards began their long road stretch in the best possible manner, getting an early goal and making it stand up in a 1-0 win against the Chicago Fire on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Park. The Wizards also back to the top of the Eastern Conference and MLS overall table, with 10 points from five matches, one more than the Columbus Crew and two more than West leader FC Dallas.
LAST MATCH
• The Fire were undefeated on the season, with two victories and a draw in their opening three matches, while the Wizards were hitting the road for the first of six consecutive away matches.
• The game's lone goal came after just four minutes. Claudio Lopez dropped a long ball from the midfield stripe on the corner of the penalty area, and Jack Jewsbury was first to it, pushing it past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch who had come off his line to clear, and banging it into the empty goal for his second goal in as many games.
• Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman kept a clean sheet for the second consecutive week, helped on one occasion when rookie Chance Myers cleared an attempt off the line and a second when Chad Barrett put a rebound over the bar with an empty net begging.
• Kansas City head coach Curt Onalfo made one change to the team that played to a scoreless draw with the Houston Dynamo the week before. Kerry Zavagnin came back into the team, in place of the injured Carlos Marinelli.
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-3-1-2): Kevin Hartman - Chance Myers, Jimmy Conrad, Tyson Wahl, Michael Harrington - Jack Jewsbury, Kerry Zavagnin, Roger Espinoza (Ivan Trujillo 57) - Kurt Morsink - Claudio Lopez (Jonathan Leathers 87), Scott Sealy (Sasha Victorine 58). Substitutes Not Used: Eloy Colombano, Aaron Hohlbein, Eric Kronberg, Ryan McMahen
• "It's great to get three points on the road. We've been on the side of a lot of games where we've had the majority of chances throughout. They certainly had more of the chances, but we found a way to grit it out and get three points on the road," Onalfo said.
TEAM NEWS
• After Jack Jewsbury gave the Wizards the lead in the fourth minute of the game, goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and the Wizards back line had to deal with 19 Fire shots, five on goal, in an offensive assault that made the shutout all the more impressive.
• "It was a lot to handle at times," Jewsbury said. "There were a few occasions where we were very fortunate not to have a couple hit the back of the net. We knew there were going to send numbers forward, but we have a lot of confidence in our defense."
• Said defender Jimmy Conrad: "That's one of the curses of scoring early. You get into a defensive shell a little sooner than you like to on the road. To play defense for 85 minutes was difficult. We survived a couple of those, we scrambled, and we did some good things."
• Hartman was credited with five saves while recording his third shutout this season, the MLS all-time leader now with 70 career clean sheets.
• "We knew it was going to be difficult to play against a team with a ton of great players," Hartman said. "We were able to weather the storm on certain occasions. It could have ended up a bunch of different ways, but we did a good job getting the win."
• The win was only the second for the Wizards in 16 games in Chicago, dating all the way back to the 1998 season when the Fire joined Major League Soccer. The Wizards also recorded their third shutout in five games.
• "We feel like they are a very, very good team, and the fact we held them to no goals is a tribute to excellent goalkeeping by Kevin Hartman and a solid defensive effort," Onalfo said.
• The trip to Toronto will be the second of six consecutive games on the road for the Wizards, with their return to CommunityAmerica Ballpark not until June 14. Kansas City is facing four Eastern Conference opponents in a row (Chicago, Toronto, Columbus, New York) before traveling to the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake.
• "Winning this game (against Chicago) gives a lot of confidence because we're on the road for the next two months; we don't have another home game until June. To get off to a good start is great and we hope we can keep it going," said Jewsbury.
