Toronto FC, a side riddled with injuries were able to salvage a draw and a clean sheet against the NY Red Bulls on Wednesday night, which marked the fifth clean sheet for the reds this season. Given the recent run of performances that the club had, anything other than a loss would have been seen as welcoming however, the NY Red Bulls, a team that has the same amount of points as Toronto thus far, was a game that Toronto had to win especially at their home field of BMO.
While Toronto were given some good news in the form of the league’s highest paid right-back Raoul Petretta starting on the night, when one player returned another went out as Mark-Anthony Kaye wasn’t on the team sheet. What was first thought to be load management since Kaye played the full 90 over the weekend, the reason as to why he wasn’t playing may be more serious as Coach Bob Bradley stated, “Mark has had some tightness in his hip flexor given all the minutes he has played this season.” During training scrums he also mentioned how they need to get a better read on the discomfort.
Both teams showed little going forward during the first-half, leading to a pretty uneventful and quiet play of events. This was echoed by the Southern stand at BMO Field where a portion of the fans behind the goal were conducting a silent protest during the first half. The best chance took place when Federico Bernardeschi received a low cross from fellow Italian Lorenzo Insigne in NY’s penalty area. Left all alone, Fede took a bit too long and saw his shot blocked on the line by 20 year-old left-back John Tolkin. Had there been no defender, TFC would’ve gone up one goal. Coach Bradley surely wishes that the action would’ve ended there. However, it was yet another injury to TFC that was the highlight of the first-half where attacker Deandre Kerr was taken off in the 43rd minute due to concussion protocols.
The start to the second-half was electric where TFC were now attacking the goal in-front of the South stand where fans ended their silent protest. Striker Ayo Akinola who entered the match at the half had a golden opportunity to score as he found himself one-on-one with Brazilian keeper Carlos Coronel. However, he shot the ball just wide where Bob Bradley admitted that maybe if “he had been in the match longer it would’ve gone in.” From the ensuing goal kick, Red Bulls ST Elias Manoel nearly got a goal for the visitors where his chip attempt clanked off of the cross bar.
After the quick start, the second-half went back to the slow pace that the first-half was played at. Toronto launched an all out attack in the last ten minutes of the match where a high-arching Bernardeschi cross found Insigne just yards from the goal in the 80th minute, but his header was stopped by Coronel. Five minutes later, Bernardeschi rushed towards the goal and attempted to find his teammate again, but he was unable to complete the pass, which would have left Insigne in an ideal position to win the game.
In a fairly dull match one stand out performer was Richie Laryea who was forced to play in a Centre Back role given the long list of injuries that TFC has in that position. Given his performance where he won all of his ground and aerial duels, completed 88% of his passes while making three interceptions and five clearances, Richie was named to the MLS Team of The Matchday for the fourth time, the most out of any Toronto player this season. His performance didn’t go unnoticed by Coach Bradley who said, “Richie has been amazing lately. You put him anywhere on the field and he says no problem … What he’s done for the team in this last stretch of games has been incredible.”
Looking forward to Matchday 14, TFC will travel to Austin, Texas for the first time in the club's history. Similar to Toronto in a sense where Austin FC were a club with big expectations entering the 2023 season, things haven’t gone too well for The Verde as they currently have 13 points through 12 matches while also being knocked out of the Concacaf Champions League by Haitian minnows Violette AC. Before their victory against the Sounders on Wednesday, Austin FC hadn’t won an MLS match since March 11. This fact can in part be attributed to the injury of star man Sebastian Driussi who scored 22 goals last season and is out with groin strain. Additionally, young midfielder Owen Wolff is on international duty ahead of the U-20 World Cup in Argentina with the United States.
Toronto will likely welcome Matt Hedges to their backline ahead of this weekend's match, which offers a huge boost to a backline that has looked clueless without his presence. Bob Bradley offered a brief preview of the match where he stated that, “Austin have proved to be a strong team… they’ve played a version of a 3-4-3 lately where their build up ideas, ways that the players get into the box are good.” One thing for sure is that TFC needs to get on the front foot early where Austin FC’s supporters, Los Verdes, can turn a trip to The Lone Star State into a nightmare if given the opportunity.
*All matchday photos are credited to Paul Giamou/Toronto FC*
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