Goals not a concern in Reds’ rout of Crew
Vazquez’s pair leads offence playing without strikers Altidore, Giovinco
Turns out Toronto FC didn’t need Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore after all.
At least that was the case on Friday night, when the team took on the Columbus Crew without its two starting strikers, the Italian out with a hamstring strain and Altidore suspended one game for yellow card accumulation.
Midfielder Victor Vazquez scored twice, and Justin Morrow, Jonathan Osorio and Jordan Hamilton added singles as the Reds extended their unbeaten streak to eight games with a decisive 5-0 win. The last two goals came with TFC down a man, after Marco Delgado was red-carded for a tackle in the 81st minute.
A great night for Vazquez, a reporter prompted Greg Vanney following the game.
“When isn’t?” the coach was quick to reply. Vazquez now has three goals to go with his league-leading eight assists.
“He’s just so aware of his surroundings,” Vanney said. “I’m a big believer that the game is played in your head before it’s played out so everyone can see it, and he’s just two steps ahead of everybody else.”
Vazquez opened the scoring on an early penalty. The midfielder got that attack started, connecting with Drew Moor at the top of Toronto’s penalty box after the defender cut off a Columbus build-up. Vazquez, who was tracking back in support, took three touches to turn and send striker Tosaint Ricketts chasing down a long ball. Crew defender Jonathan Mensah was no match for the speedy Canadian in a footrace; the best he could do was drag Ricketts down, first pulling him back by the shoulder before chopping the striker’s legs out from under him.
Mensah was lucky to escape with just a yellow card, but he didn’t get away with a clean sheet: Toronto was awarded the penalty and Vazquez put the ball into the bottom corner to give the Reds the lead.
Despite all the goals, including a rocket from Morrow, a roller Osorio and a header from Hamilton, Vazquez’s winner stood tall.
The victory earned TFC its first trophy of the season — the Trillium Cup — awarded annually to whichever of the two teams wins the season series between Toronto and Columbus.
The hardware doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things; the glorified rivalry the fact the trillium is both Ontario’s official flower and Ohio’s official wildflower. But the win gave the Reds a five-point lead in the East. In six MLS games this month, they took 16 of 18 available points.
While Friday night’s match gave Toronto’s attacking depth some time to shine, including a league debut for striker Ben Spencer, the club will happily welcome Giovinco and Alti- dore back as soon as possible.
If it had been up to him, Giovinco would have been back on Friday night.
The striker posted a photo on Instagram on Thursday with a caption that read “When you are ready but they don’t want to listen.”
Vanney said Giovinco looked and felt like he was ready in training this past week but, with an MRI still showing some form of an injury, TFC’s medical staff believed playing him against Columbus was too risky.
As a former player, Vanney understands the frustration and desire to play. As a coach, he wasn’t a big fan of the delivery of Giovinco’s message.
“In terms of the Instagram, I didn’t love the Instagram, for sure. That’s a discussion for he and I, and we’ll move from there.”