Washington, DC - Toronto FC's reserves earned a 2-0 victory over D.C. United's reserves Saturday night at RFK Stadium. Goals from Gabe Gala and Andrea Lombardo in the second half were the difference, as TFC improved its reserve record to 2-4-3, while United fell to 4-2-5.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net during the first stanza, as United controlled the majority of play and created several scoring opportunities.
The first good chance of the game didn't come until the 26th minute, when United's newest player, Jerson Monteiro collected the ball deep in the Chicago half. Playing as a right midfielder, Monteiro fed the ball to Nick Addlery who turned just outside the goal box and hit a low shot that was saved by Srdjan Djekanovic.
Just a minute later, D.C. earned a corner kick that was taken from the left side by Justin Moose. His curling ball fell into the path of defender Brad North, who put a header on goal, but saw it tipped over the bar by Djekanovic.
A few minutes before halftime, Monteiro ran onto a long ball out of the back, collected it with his first touch and slid a toe poke past the goalkeeper, but not past the post, as the ball found the woodwork and fell out of harm's way.
One minute later Toronto's Cristian Nunez found himself 25 yards from United's goal with some space. He quickly turned and struck a low ball just past the right goal post. It would be the final attempt on goal in the half.
Toronto did not waste much time in the second half, as it got on the scoreboard in just the 50th minute. Gabe Gala beat Nolly with a low shot that tucked just inside the far post.
United midfielder Domenic Mediate hit a well-struck ball from 22 yards in the 62nd minute, but Djekanovic was able to push the ball out of danger and out of bounds.
In the 70th minute, Andrea Lombardo almost put TFC by two when he carried the ball from the left side towards the goal box. He struck a low ball to the near post that required a diving save from Nolly.
Lombardo would not fail twice and doubled Toronto's advantage in the 87th minute after he collected a defensive turnover 25 yards from goal. The big forward carried the ball into the box and slipped it past second half substitute goalkeeper Mark Murphy.
Scoring Summary:
TFC - Gabe Gala (Andrea Lombardo) 50
TFC - Andrea Lombardo (unassisted) 70
TFC - Srdjan Djekanovic; Tyler Hemming, Stephen Lumley, Cameron Medwin, Gabe Gala; Joey Melo, Cristian Nunez, David Guzman, Miguel Canizalez, Evan Milward, Andrea Lombardo
Subs not used: Sam Reynolds, Adam Braz, Andrew Boyens, Jeff Cunningham
DCU - Jay Nolly (Mark Murphy 75); Stephen deRoux, Domenic Mediate, Jeff Carroll, Brad North (Kelvin Jones 46); Justin Moose, Bryan Arguez, Rod Dyachenko, Jerson Monteiro; Nick Addlery (Trevor McEachron 56), Mira Mupier (Ricky Lewis 46)
Subs not used: Guy-Roland Kpene
