Reds earn hard fought draw
COLUMBUS — The Reds gave up nothing.
And like Michael Bradley said needed to happen before Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference final, Toronto FC left MAPFRE Stadium “with something.”
A goalless draw in front of a frustrated Rust Belt crowd provided Toronto FC with a decided advantage in this two-leg series.
Without their top two scorers, the Reds stymied the Crew in their building, playing conservatively in hard fought draw that makes them overwhelming favourite to claim another Eastern Conference title.
Coach Greg Vanney surprised supporters and pundits when he rolled out a lopsided 4-1-4-1, with Michael Bradley quarterbacking in front of the back line and Nicolas Hasler featuring on the right side of midfield.
In moving away from their far more customary 3-5-2 system, Toronto’s lineup wrinkle stymied the Columbus Crew through an opening 45 minutes in which the hosts produced just a single shot on target.
Bradley — boo’d all night inbetween “Save the Crew” chants — was the best player on the pitch, clogging up passing lanes and expertly distributing all over the pitch without the services of Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco.
The Crew didn’t produce their first real opportunity on goal until minutes into the second half, when Pedro Santos’s latched onto a through-ball in behind TFC’s defence before he went down under a challenge from Alex Bono.
Referee Robert Sabiga awarded advantage, allowing Columbus poacher Ola Kamara a brief look at an open net before TFC’s Drew Moor recovered in time to clear away Kamara’s open look from an angle.
Desperate to break the deadlock, the Crew became more and more extended through the final 20 minutes, leaving themselves open as they went in search of a goal to give them an edge ahead of the return leg.
Artur nearly found the decisive strike in the 72nd minute when he pushed into space 30 metres from goal before blistering an effort that worried a diving Bono before the attempt inches wide of the upper corner.
The Reds, meanwhile, sold out with a quarter-hour remaining, playing for a goalless finish that provided them an advantage heading back to BMO for Leg 2 next Wednesday night.
Vanney replaced midfielder Marky Delgado with Eriq Zavaleta, shoring things up at the back in a match in which they didn’t attempt a shot on goal. Defensive specialist Armando Cooper replaced Hasler minutes later.
Bizarrely, the Reds have produced just a single shot on goal over two playoff games — a nod to Bradley’s pre-game comments about “winning games in different ways”.
Struggling to break though, the Crew’s Kekuta Manneh took a page out of Artur’s book with 10 minutes remaining, cutting inside before striking an effort that flashed wide of the near post.
The big moment arrived in the 85th minute following a missclearance from Drew Moor sat up perfectly for Harrison Afful to get a clean strike from 10 metres at Bono, who stood tall to push aside the point-blank attempt.
A follow-up attempt from Manneh looked destined to bulge the net before Zavaleta stepped forward for a second block that kept things even.
Threatened again minutes from the end, Bono smothered a cross from Federico Higuain after the Argentina playmaker had found space along the right edge of the penalty area.
The Crew’s Justin Meram had one final chance in stoppage-time when he walked in alone before shanking his right-footed effort wide of Bono’s back post.
The listless Reds won’t mind producing nothing going forward. They’ll get Altidore and Giovinco back when this series returns to Toronto a week from now.
Toronto FC dismantled the Crew 5-0 — without Altidore and Giovinco — when the fledgling franchise visiting BMO Field back in May.
Now they’ll return home knowing any win will see them host MLS Cup for the second consecutive season.
The winner of next Wednesday ’s second leg awaits the winner of Houston-Seattle.