Reds roll into playoffs but their eyes are on bigger prize
Toronto FC today is not the same team that clinched its first ever playoff berth a little less than two years ago. Never was that more apparent than on Saturday evening.
It wasn’t quite a “win and you’re in” scenario for TFC when the team arrived at BMO Field to face the San Jose Earthquakes. But a 4-0 rout —Toronto’s fifth straight win, maintaining its unbeaten home record — coupled with Montreal’s 1-0 loss to New England made the Reds the first team in Major League Soccer to qualify for the post-season.
There was no fanfare surrounding the accomplishment, one that meant so much to the franchise in October 2015. Saturday was simply business as usual for a club that sits nine points clear in the race for the Supporters’ Shield; they have loftier aspirations.
There weren’t even plans to pay particular attention to the game in Massachusetts, which kicked off after the Reds finished. Captain Michael Bradley said he would watch Montreal play New England no matter the implications for Toronto. Coach Greg Vanney had other things to do immediately after his team’s game.
“Not if it interferes with the (Toronto FC II) match,” Vanney said when asked if he would tune in. “I’ll be watching that. Maybe on the phone next to me, I’ll have it going.
“I’ll find out somewhere down the road if we clinch . . . Our focus now is on recovering from this game and getting ready to go to (Los Angeles on Saturday) to try to get three points and try to keep improving as a team.”
Bradley said the difference between the current squad and the team he joined in 2014 is “night and day.” That side, he said, had to be at its absolute best “just to have a chance.”
On Sunday, Toronto clinched more than two weeks earlier than it did last year and more than a month earlier than in 2015.
“We feel good about where we are, what we’ve done but there isn’t one person who’s satisfied, not even close,” Bradley said.
The Reds dominated San Jose throughout the match, despite losing striker Sebastian Giovinco for the second half after he was pulled with quadriceps tightness. Giovinco is expected to be monitored over the next few days but felt OK postgame, Vanney said.
A slip-up helped Toronto break the deadlock in the 26th minute.
San Jose goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell misjudged a cross by defender Steven Beitashour, in his first start since lacerating his pancreas in June. Tarbell could only flap at the incoming ball before it landed with midfielder Victor Vazquez at the back post for the tap in.
Jozy Altidore doubled Toronto’s tally early in the second half. Vazquez found the striker in the box before Altidore slanted a low shot past Tarbell, into the bottom right corner.
Altidore used his head to cash in his second of the night in the 64th minute. It was a four-goal lead two minutes later, with midfielder Jonathan Osorio scoring his second of the year.
Reminiscing, Vanney agreed that the team has come a long way since its first playoff run in terms of the quality of their soccer and understanding of what they’re trying to do out on the field. But there is still work to be done.
“Great things don’t necessarily happen overnight and we have a long ways still to go,” he said. “I think we want to continue to push this team as far as we can.”