TORONTO – In his first eight league games of the season, Toronto FC striker Danny Koevermans scored three goals. In his last three games, he’s scored four.
Clearly, the Dutch hitman has got his groove back. Just don’t ask him how he did it.
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“I told you already last season, sometimes you have a good streak and sometimes a bad,” Koevermans told reporters on Friday after training at Downsview Park. “Now it’s a good streak. I don’t know how it comes, but the chances come now and they go in. At the start of the season, I missed a couple of chances on good saves by the goalkeeper.”
Koevermans’ early-season slump was somewhat out of character. After signing for the Reds on June 29 of last season on a Designated Player contract, the 33-year-old striker debuted on July 20 and scored eight goals in 10 league games.
Koevermans ices game vs. Impact
With the help of left back Ashtone Morgan, the Dutchman is starting to get back on his old goalscoring pace. Morgan has assisted on Koevermans’ last two goals – against the New England Revolution in a 2-2 draw last Saturday and against Montreal in Wednesday’s 3-0 win.
Morgan almost assisted Koevermans for another goal against the Revs, and although the Dutchman couldn’t put his head on the young Canadian’s cross, Ryan Johnson cleaned up to give the Reds a 2-0 lead.
“It’s excellent,” Koevermans said. “I hope that it keeps going on like that. It’s important for us, especially for me and Ryan.”
Head coach Paul Mariner, a former England striker, appreciates the skill of Koevermans around the goal. He uses his goal in Montreal as an example.
“If you know anything about finishing on goal even though it looks like such an easy finish for Danny Koevermans, it’s just the way he let it [softly] off his foot into the back of the net,” Mariner said. “That’s a goalscorer. Some lesser players or a more inexperienced player would try to smash the back of the net. He didn’t. It was a beautiful move, a classic move.”
Toronto would like to see more of the Morgan-to-Koevermans routine on Saturday when they play the New York Red Bulls at BMO Field (7 pm ET, Galavision).
“We have nothing to lose tomorrow,” Koevermans said. “They are No. 1 [tied with D.C. United in the Eastern Conference] with 30 points. It’s just another game, but we have to play with a lot of respect for New York, of course. They’ve done a great job this season. For us it’s perfect that we won on the road, it gives us a little bit of confidence.”
