Draw disappoints sellout crowd
After fast start, TFC lets Galaxy pull even
It was a night unlike any other. But the finish was all too familiar. Toronto FC, a club that has made a habit of conceding late goals in its five years of existence, did it again Wednesday night in a 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy in the opening leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final at the Rogers Centre.
Landon Donovan, captain of the star-studded L.A. side, scored off a goalmouth scramble in the 89th minute to silence the sellout crowd of 47,658, which shattered TFC’S home attendance mark. The equalizer came off a David Beckham corner kick.
After the goal, Beckham turned and did fist pumps toward a section of fans that had been the origin of a beer can thrown at him prior to the kick. Donovan raced over to join him in celebration and admonished the fans by waving his finger back and forth.
The return leg is set for Carson, Calif., next Wednesday night.
“When they tie it in the 89th of course it’s disappointing,” said TFC striker Danny Koevermans. “But I think we had a good game and we were competitive against L.A.
“It’s a shame they tied it in the last minute but we showed today that maybe if everything works out next week we can beat them.”
The Reds are looking to become the first Canadian team to advance to the semifinals of the club competition for teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Toronto appeared well on the way to taking a lead into next week. The Reds, feeding off the energy of the crowd, stormed out to a 2-0 lead before the game was 20 minutes old on a pair of pretty finishes by Ryan Johnson and Luis Silva. Captain Torsten Frings, who was superb at both ends of the pitch, was involved in both. “It was absolutely a great atmosphere,” Frings said through a translator. “It really fired the team up. We didn’t use our chances for a third goal and unfortunately their second goal happened right at the end.” The Galaxy, the defending MLS champions, seemed to find their legs after falling behind by two. They got one back in the 29th minute when Mike Magee converted a goalmouth cross that keeper Stefan Frei couldn’t corral. The visitors kept the pressure on, generating the majority of the scoring chances the rest of the way. “It would have been a little cruel to leave here losing 2-1,” Donovan said. “I think we had a number of chances and on another night probably should have scored four or five goals.” On the first goal, Frings’ corner into the goalmouth was sent out by a defender right into the path of Johnson. The Jamaican international met the clearance with a side-footed volley off his left foot, rocketing it over Josh Saunders into the net. As the crowd erupted at the 12th- minute strike, Johnson ran over and did a flying kick on the corner flag as his teammates mobbed him with congratulatory hugs.
The crowd’s roars had barely subsided when the Reds made it 2-0 in the 18th minute.
Frings sent in a cross from just inside the L.A. half to an unmarked Silva. The fourth overall pick in January’s MLS Superdraft, playing in his first game for TFC, finished like a veteran, thumping a header from 12 yards just past the outstretched fingertips of Saunders, off the inside of the left post and into the net.
After the goal, Silva fell to his knees and crossed himself as the crowd exploded.
“I never dreamed of this moment,” said Silva, who grew up in L.A. a Galaxy fan. “There was obviously a lot of fans and I’m really blessed that I was able to start and score.”