Toronto FC has set records for attendance and season ticket sales in their inaugural season in Major League Soccer. Unfortunately, the club has also set an on-field record that they would prefer to be without.
TFC's 1-0 loss to D.C. United on Saturday night marks the sixth consecutive match without a goal for the club. Their mark of 642 minutes without scoring is a new MLS record, shattering Real Salt Lake's single-season mark of 557 minutes in 2005. The only other team a team went scoreless over six consecutive games at any point was the Kansas City Wizards, who were held scoreless in the final three games of the 1998 season and first three of 1999 (637 minutes in all).
The loss to United might have been the most frustrating clean sheet yet for TFC. They outshot D.C. 12-5, including three shots in the first five minutes that seemed to stem from a desire to avoid breaking RSL's record. Yet it was United, who had a poor attacking game, who were able to capitalize on their lone shot of the first half, a chip shot just outside the penalty area by Brazilian midfielder Fred.
"We're getting chances but we just can't seem to put it in the back of the net," said forward Collin Samuel. "We're putting in as much effort into the game, but it just isn't going our way."
Toronto was victimized by some missed passes on their part, plus a strong outing from D.C. goalkeeper Troy Perkins, who made four saves and a number of acrobatic leaps to grab the ball before chances could develop for the Reds.
By the end of the match, the TFC alignment had more or less shifted to a 4-2-4 scheme in order to keep up the attack, but even the extra pressure wasn't enough to generate the breakthrough goal.
"We were looking to score," said Toronto coach Mo Johnston. "Down 1-0 late, there's no use sitting back and defending."
Johnston made a few adjustments before the match as well. Danny Dichio and Marvell Wynne returned to Toronto's starting XI for the first time in nearly a month for either man. Wynne played in the midfield rather than his usual right-back position due to an injury to midfielder Andy Welsh that kept him out of the lineup.
It was that positional switch that might have led to United's goal. Fred collected a long headed pass and caught TFC defender Adam Braz (playing in Wynne's usual spot) flat-footed before moving towards the penalty area.
Wynne defended Braz's performance, saying that on the goal, the whole team's "positioning was a little off." Wynne was quicker to point the finger at his own play in the midfield.
"I don't think I played very well at all," Wynne said. "Maybe if I get some more training under my belt, it could be a position I could be playing in the future. Obviously I tried my best, but right back is still my position.
"I had a couple of opportunities to maybe put the ball into the center, but I can never say I'm better there than maybe Welsh or [Samuel] in that position because they're more comfortable with the ball."
With their next game on Sept. 8 in Dallas, Toronto now has a full two weeks to ponder what they can do to get back on the scoreboard.
"We're going through a little sticky patch at the moment," said midfielder Carl Robinson. "Performance-wise I think we're playing well. Goals-wise we obviously cannot score. We're throwing kitchen sinks at teams and not scoring. It's that type of luck we're having at the moment. The effort was there, the commitment was there, a little bit of frustration is there at times, but the final result isn't there."
Johnston, for his part, said he is doing his best to keep his team motivated, and said that strong performances like the Reds showed against United will eventually lead to better results. The coach said he is more concerned with that than with his club's latest entry in the MLS record books.
"Records are made to be broken," Johnston said. "At the end of the day this team will move forward with or without the record."
Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
