TFC roars to third straight Canadian title
If Toronto FC’s quest to battle back from the bottom of the Eastern Conference into the Major League Soccer playoffs should fall short, the team made sure on Wednesday that this season would not be a total writeoff.
Jozy Altidore atoned for his foolish red card minutes into Sunday’s league loss with a tour de force hat trick performance and the Reds hoisted the Voyageurs Cup again — a third straight Canadian Championship triumph — thanks to a 5-2 second leg win over the Vancouver Whitecaps at BMO Field.
Sebastian Giovinco scored TFC’s second goal and set up Altidore for the third and fourth as a close game got blown wide open in the second half.
Altidore potentially cost his club points by getting booted out of Sunday’s loss to New York City FC in the opening minutes for a retaliatory kick and the team sits seven points out of the final MLS playoff spot in the East.
Whether a return to the postseason can be achieved or not, one of the team’s goals is to be the best in Canada every year and to get into the CONCACAF Champions League. That will once again happen after Wednesday’s stirring performance.
The teams tied last week’s meeting in B.C. 2-2 after Vancouver surrendered a late own-goal, but TFC did not carry any obvious momentum into this one.
The first half was physical, but lacked fireworks until Altidore opened the scoring in the 39th minute. The big man started the play with a run from the corner, then was sent in by a beautiful back-heel flick by Marky Delgado, who started only because Victor Vazquez was a last-minute scratch due to a sore knee.
Altidore hopped the boards and ran toward TFC’s most vocal supporters, hugging a few fans after his opener. He was far from finished entertaining them.
The American has shown a knack for scoring massive goals when they’re most needed (see the 2017 playoffs for evidence, including the MLS Cup final) and now has 13 goals for Toronto in knockout games across all competitions.
Giovinco made it 2-0 with a 44th-minute back-breaker — believed to be his first header while with the club — off a Jonathan Osorio setup.
It was Giovinco’s sixth career goal in the Canadian Championship, setting a new tournament record.
Vancouver came in riding high, having just ended Portland’s record 15-game MLS unbeaten streak with a win in Oregon. But with young Canadian star Alphonso Davies not firing on all cylinders (he was a surprise addition to the lineup after missing most of training due to an injury and subbed off once the game was out of hand), the visitors rarely threatened, getting only a Kei Kamara goal in the 63rd minute to make it 4-1 and a Brek Shea strike in the 77th.
Before Kamara’s goal, Altidore had added two more to his tally, a tap-in in the 49th minute off a Giovinco pass and a header in the 53rd.
Just to make sure, substitute Tosaint Ricketts made it 5-2 by heading in a Michael Bradley free kick three minutes after Shea’s goal.
Toronto beat Ottawa Fury FC in two games to advance to the final and is 13-1 in two-game aggregate series since 2016, with the only loss coming against C.D. Guadalajara in the CONCACAF Champions League final.
The Whitecaps could not avenge final round losses to TFC in 2011, 2012 and 2016.
Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio was named the George Gross Memorial Trophy winner as tournament MVP.