Toronto FC paid their first visit to RFK Stadium and it was a memorable one as a 1-0 halftime lead turned into a 4-1 drubbing.
It wasn't a promising start for the TFC in the 11th minute when Tyrone Marshall received a caution after being called for a reckless foul on Emilio - the move will cost the defender and the team as he'll miss Thursday's big contest against New York in Toronto after bringing his card total to 5.
That was soon forgotten however because in the 14th minute Carl Robinson lined up for a free kick and sailed it into the back of the net past Troy Perkins into the top corner right out of reach of the goalkeeper. That is Robinson's first goal since June 17th against Colorado at home.
20th minute a great chip pass from Fred up ahead to Guy-Roland Kpene left him one on one with the goalkeeper. He rushed in from the right side, took his shot which Stamatopoulos got a piece of , but the ball trickled dangerously close to going over the line however Adam Braz was there to clear it to safety.
Minutes later in the 23rd, Marvell Wynne, playing in the midfield again, broke thru two defenders making a nice move, but Perkins came out to challenge and made a good save to keep Wynne from scoring his first of the season.
Before the first half would end...Clyde Simms almost put DC on the board with a shot that rang off the cross bar.
The second half was all about the home team. 52nd minute Fred made a nice back heel pass to Marc Burch who just unleashed a rising shot that hit the top corner and was unstoppable for Stamatopoulos. The keeper had no chance as D.C. quickly leveled the game to get the crowd of over 25,000 back in it.
Then in the 57th Fred from out of nowhere...was given too much space and made it look effortless as he sails a ball into the far corner of the net and D.C. quickly took control the game taking the lead 5 minutes after Burch's goal. Once again, a diving Stamatopoulos had no chance. Coach Mo Johnston hoping to get a little more offence going as he subbed in Jeff Cunningham in the 62nd minute in favour of defender Braz.
More offence from D.C. and in the 65th Simms sprung Jamie Moreno in what appeared to be an offside pass, however the flag stayed down and Moreno did not stop beating the keeper one on one to put it in on the far side. Numerous TFC players approached the official to voice their opinion after the play - but the goal stood and the home side took a commanding 3-1 lead, scoring 3 goals in 17 minutes. And it got worse. D.C. with the free kick taken by Cristian Gomez - it hit the corner of the cross bar - and the rebound went straight to Emilio who scored a beautiful one-timer that caught the keeper by surprise. That goal came in the 70th minute and would essentially end the game for Toronto.
TFC will host New York Red Bulls on Thursday in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN2 beginning at 7:30pm ET, the Red Bulls head back to Toronto winless in four after drawing 2-2 with Salt Lake at home Saturday night.
Toronto's Reserve team kicked off against D.C. United's Reserve squad at 10pm following the first match. The team will resume training on Monday October 1st at 10am at BMO Field.
