ORLANDO, Fla.—It was a sorry tale of two penalties for Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney as his men left Camping World Stadium empty-handed from a 3-2 loss against Orlando City SC that ultimately turned on a 100th-minute spot-kick from home star Kaká.
The long period of stoppage time was required after a lengthy halt in play for a thigh injury to Reds keeper Clint Irwin that called 22-year- old back-up Alex Bono into his first league action as a second-half substitute, as well as a water break necessitated by the hot, humid Florida conditions.
But it wasn’t so much the call on Drew Moor for Orlando’s spot-kick as one that wasn’t given at the other end that had Vanney fuming.
“I have to say, we feel pretty hard done by,” the head coach insisted. “I’m not here to debate whether the last one was a penalty or not, but it was no different to when [Orlando keeper] Joe [Bendik] pulled down our guy in the box in the second half. We need to call the same thing on both sides. Let’s be consistent about it.”
The 75th-minute flashpoint arrived with the game 1-1. Bendik initially turned aside a one-on- one effort from Jonathan Osorio – who also bagged two assists on the night – but then flapped at the legs of Jordan Hamilton as the young striker tried to turn in the loose ball. Hamilton went down, but referee Ismail Elfath waved play on.
Then, with the game deep in stoppage time after a late exchange of goals by Adrian Winter for Orlando and Justin Morrow for Toronto, Moor was adjudged to have pulled down Julio Baptista to allow Brazilian star Kaká to strike the winning penalty home off the bar past Bono, with Reds defender Josh Williams sent off for his protests.
Bono was only called in after the 70th-minute injury to Irwin, who had been in sparkling form but collapsed clutching his right leg after a goal kick on the slippery artificial turf.
“It was always going to be a tough game, and we were only able to bring 17 players, so to have to use a goalkeeper sub is something you don’t expect,” Vanney said. “It seems to be a quad injury but it will be a while before we know how serious it is. It is going to take a big assessment of things.”
Vanney was pleased with the way his team fought back after being largely outplayed in the first half, and he was delighted for homegrown star Hamilton, who bagged his first senior goal with a slick 47th-minute strike that equalized at 1-1.
“Jordan had a good game for us,” Vanney said. “He has a lot of ability, a lot of athleticism and he has good size. He and [Orlando’s] Cyle Larin grew up in the same area and they are not dissimilar in style. Jordan is learning on the fly right now but he got himself in some good positions and had some good moments tonight, so there is every chance he will keep growing.”
