With win, Toronto FC has Red Bulls by the horns
Faced with a New York pushback in the second half, Toronto FC served a timely reminder at Red Bull Arena that it can defend as well as it can attack.
Now the sixth-seeded Red Bulls, down 2-1 after the opening leg, face an uphill battle Sunday in Game 2 of a Major League Soccer Eastern Conference semifinal at BMO Field where league-leading Toronto posted nine shutouts while going 13-1-3 this season.
The Red Bulls need to win and score at least two goals to survive, or at least match Monday’s score to force overtime. And given Toronto’s offence — it scored in 31 of 34 games this season and was last blanked at home on March 31 — that seems a very tall order.
Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch, normally a firecracker on the sidelines, was a muted figure in the first half Monday as a loud, partisan crowd of 18,107 tried to cheer the hometown team on. At one point, after watching another turnover, he turned away and wiped his forehead in frustration.
Dominant in the first half, Toronto held firm on defence and posed problems with its rapid-fire counterattack. But despite a commanding edge in play, it went into halftime tied at 1-1 after a stoppage-time Daniel Royer penalty cancelled out an eighth-minute goal by Victor Vazquez.
Toronto coach Greg Vanney anticipated a New York rally in the second and watched his team weather an at-times wild storm.
“We stayed together,” he said. “We are as good a defending team as we are an attacking team. And tonight we utilized that as our method of getting the result.”
TFC needed just one chance to pull ahead in the second half, with Sebastian Giovinco, an artist in dead-ball situations, slotting home his seventh free kick of the season in the 72nd minute.
While Toronto led the league with 74 goals (2.18 per game), it ranked second in defence with 37 goals allowed (1.09 goals per game).
When the defence wobbled Monday, goalkeeper Alex Bono was up to the task.
With veteran Toronto defender Drew Moor unable to play the second half after rolling his ankle on the penalty play, Nick Hagglund was pressed into action and the 25-year-old did not disappoint.
A former starter who lost his job after a knee injury gave Chris Mavinga time to blossom, Hagglund is one of Toronto’s most athletic presences. When it comes to aerial challenges, he jumps like he’s spring-loaded; he made two big defensive clearances in the air to ease pressure early in the half.
The stylish Vazquez exited in the 65th minute after taking a hip to the groin. His seemed more sore than anything else, but Moor’s ankle injury looked troubling.
Once again Toronto forward Jozy Altidore was a physical force, tormenting Red Bull defenders and serving as a transition point from defence to attack. It was his run — and nifty sidestep around Damien Perrinelle — and low cross that led to Vazquez’s goal after goalkeeper Luis Robles could only parry the ball.