First place on the line in top-team showdown

League-leading Toronto heads into Philly game undefeated in nine

Philadelphia Union coach Jim Curtin knows all too well the damage Alejandro Pozuelo can do.

Curtin watched from the sideline on Oct. 3 as his team somehow forgot about the Toronto FC playmaker on a 76th-minute corner when the teams met in East Hartford. Pozuelo moved leisurely toward the net, seemingly unnoticed by the 10 Union players in the penalty box.

Pozuelo was still walking when Pablo Piatti launched the corner, but picked up speed as he realized he was unmarked at the far post. Chris Mavinga flicked the ball on to Pozuelo, whose header beat a diving Andre Blake. The Philadelphia ’keeper was left sitting on the ground, gesticulating at his defence and wondering how one of the most dangerous attackers in Major League Soccer was allowed to go walkabout for the winner.

Toronto and Philadelphia face off again Saturday in a top-ofthe-table showdown at Subaru Park. League-leading Toronto (12-2-5) goes into the game undefeated in nine (7-0-2), a run that includes the 2-1 victory over the Union. Second-place Philadelphia (11-3-5) is unbeaten in four (3-0-1) since the loss to Toronto. For Curtin, it’s a rematch with the best team and best player in the league.

“They beat us head-to-head and they played a good game,” he said. “It was a tight game, a highly contested game, one where we let ourselves down on a restart, lost an assignment on the back post to Pozuelo. But we know we can play with them.”

A Philadelphia win would move the Union into first place on goal differential. A Toronto victory would extend its lead to six points.

Toronto has won six of its past seven, outscoring the opposition 10-4 along the way, with Pozuelo contributing four goals and two assists.

Toronto coach Greg Vanney says the winning goal against Philadelphia was a designed play, with his players looking to congregate at the near post and get the ball to Pozuelo at the far post.

“In terms of their marking, that be would on them,” he added. “I’m not sure why he was so free.”

As for the five-foot-seven Pozuelo, he said he needs to find a good spot in such situations because “I am small.”

Entering weekend play, Pozuelo leads the league in assists (10) and is tied for fourth in goals (eight). He is the only TFC player to have started all 19 regular-season games in 2020.

The Spaniard has collected 20 goals and 22 assists in two MLS seasons, meaning he has played a direct role in 48 per cent of Toronto’s goals. And that doesn’t count the attacks he has launched or defenders he has distracted on the others.

“He’s the best player in the league,” said Curtin. “People will talk about his right foot and his left foot and his ability to play a final ball and his ability to shoot from distance with both feet. But what I actually like the most with his game is just how hard he works defensively for a team. Gone are the days of the No. 10 that just kind of stood in the centre circle, Carlos Valderrama style.”