Toronto FC squeezed out a victory in their first game of the Canadian Club Competition in Montreal tonight. The Montreal Impact deserve credit for an energetic effort ( Nigel Reed called them "lively") without quit even when they went down to ten men in the second half. As the game wore on the advantage in skill level to Toronto became more and more evident, notably in ball control and defensive prowess.
Marco Velez scored the goal from a free kick crossed into the box by Lauren Robert. Velez may have gotten away with one when he pushed a Montreal player who was in the penalty area in the early minutes of the game.
Just a few thoughts....
Jeff Cunningham and Rohan Ricketts suffer in a game like this. They have been struggling and if they continue to do so against USL competition, it is worrying for the fans. I am sure that it is worrying for them too. The sad view is after tonight, if you were managing a USL team would you want either of them. Let is hope that there are better games ahead.
Danny Dichio only played in the first half, was replaced by Jarrod Smith with only minutes to play. It seems that Dichio's groin injury is still a concern.
Robert continues to play with a minimum of hustle but style and timing. I think his fastest sprint was to challenge for a ball and get under the skin of Adam Braz. Once you saw Braz pushing Tebily in a corner kick set-up, you felt that Braz was going to erupt.
Now back to Toronto to await the arrival of LA on Saturday...
No comments:
Post a Comment