Toronto FC won a game at BMO tonight the old fashioned, gritty but showing tons of newfound confidence. Score a goal that will manage to avoid the highlight reels and then hang in there and make sure you always have defenders back in numbers. They do not have to be masterpieces to qualify as victories and gain the three points.
TFC continues to rise beyond humble (or huge) expectations in these early stages of this 2008 season. The TFC of 2007 seldom held a lead, absorbing pressure for most of the second half and showing off strategic and tidy defending. Tonight there was not a lot of thrilling offensive play, but there was enough to keep the pressure off from time to time. Jarrod Smith had a late cross that was crying out for someone to convert into a goal and Greg Sutton seemed to surprise himself with a save on Fred that really should have been put away.
So the spring big home stand ended tonight with three victories and two tie. , Add them to the road victory in LA and behold a season point total of 14. True, the combination of catching DC United in a slump and this cagey, no frills defending were the foundation for the victory. TFC was not a smooth machine by any means. Dichio struggles still as he tries to mesh with the midfield. His knockdowns and flick ons are going everywhere but where they should.
Maurice Edu is truly starting to worry the fans. He seems jumpy and lacks vision and his passing touch has been traded in for a series of give aways and "what was thats". I am developing a theory that Edu is spending too much time with Andrea Bargnani, the second year fizzle that haunts the Raptors. If anyone can find a photo of them together, send it and I will share.
Although the confidence may be rising , pitfalls are everywhere. A win on Saturday will be much tougher than tonight. It is hard to put a finger on what is creating this DC United malaise. In terms of goals allowed there was only one moment of distraction that would keep DC's total different from Columbus's on Saturday.
Robert and Ricketts were not offensive factors and Coach Carver showed his tactical sense by replacing them with Smith and Dunivant.
Carl Robinson had one of his everywhere nights. He must have been charming the ref all night long as fouls were called regularly on his challenges
Weather Report I think it was the Champions League Final that was filling heads with images of rain drenched players and slippery conditions as we filed into our seats at BMO tonight. However the rain was persistent throughout the first half without the build-up. When the rain let up, the temperature did not drop much and the winds were very light.
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