Vancouver WhiteCaps beat TFC 1-0 or education continues even though school is out

Toronto FC hosted the Vancouver Whitecaps in a Canada Day match-up at BMO. The Whitecaps took the lead on a penalty kick in the first half. The kick was awarded after a foul was detected by the ref during a corner kick. I did not see it myself, but my eyes were following the path of the ball coming in.......( I would love to see a replay. If it was a dubious borderline call, I am predicting the same will happen as a make-up upon the return match in BC).
Once Vancouver had their goal, you sensed that the script was set. Vancouver would defend like crazy and hope for the rare counter-attack and Toronto would bang on the door for the rest of the afternoon. We all know how good TFC is at banging on the door. There was a handful of opportunities, a scattering of saves and Jeff Cunningham scored and had his effort called back on an offside. Another replay please to be sure before I throw my opinion around, but ....

Coach Carver is getting into the habit of making wholesale changes for the second half. Today he made his three at the half. Rohan Ricketts was replaced by Julius James, Danny Dichio by Jeff Cunningham and Jarrod Smith for Lauren Robert. The Ricketts move meant that Jim Brennan played the left wing for the second half. All of the substitutes had their moments, but no goals is still no goals.
Switching three at a time raises some questions. Is this an indication that the Coach is trying to expand his squad or is it a sign of panic when the team fails to score ?


TFC has now played twice in this Canadian Championship, hosting Vancouver today and playing in Montreal last month. Over those two games they have scored one goal and allowed one goal. If this was against MLS teams, it may seem an acceptable result. The fact that this games are against USL teams has many wondering. Should we say that TFC are a team compatible with the lower league or praise the other Canadian teams as being better than expected.


So what have we learned ?? Toronto continues to have a goal scoring crisis.

Give Vancouver credit, they followed the plan on how to grab a road win perfectly. This was the type of performance that Toronto fans wanted to see last Saturday when playing New England. Take your opportunity and then hold on for dear life.
Now Toronto has to come on strong in this competition. Montreal has two victories with only one more game to play. Toronto has one victory with two more games to play.

Next game is home on the weekend against Pachuca of Mexico.