The Toronto Lynx
brought their four game losing streak to an end as an
88th minute goal by Brazilian striker Francisco Dos
Santos was the deciding factor in a 1 nil win over the
Boston Bulldogs in front of 2,424 on Friday night at
Varsity Stadium.
The game was sluggish from the start due in part to the
typical Toronto summer weather combining high
temperatures and humidity that could be cut with a
knife.
Adding to the tedium of the first half was the no
nonsense approach to the match applied by referee Zoran
Kristo who handed out yellow cards to Milan Kojic (20th),
Plato Krivotchekov (28th) and Gaucho (29th) of the Lynx
and Justin Ceccarelli (34th) of the Bulldogs.
The caution to Lynx midfielder Krivotchekov would come
back to haunt the Toronto side in the 36th minute when
the Russian, suffering from a too tightly taped foot,
left the field of play and sat down on the bench to tend
to his boot without first getting the permission of the
referee. The fourth official Frank Marciello
alerted referee Kristo who gave Krivotchekov his second
yellow card and ejected him from the match.
Lynx head coach Peter Pinizzotto said "in a lot of
cases they let it go especially when (the player) doesn't
speak any english but I was upset with (Plato) because
there is no way you should be walking off the field
without letting the referee or linesman know."
It was a double blow for the Lynx as Krivotchekov had
been playing his most effective match of the
season. Forced to play the rest of the match with
ten men, Toronto will also be without the Russian
midfielder for Sunday's match with Atlanta as a result of
the automatic one match suspension that accompanies an
ejection.
Despite this setback, the Lynx had the best chance of the
first half when Nikki Vignjevic was set up all alone in
front of the Bulldogs goal but his shot was wide of the
mark.
The Lynx had all the best chances in the second half but
were unable to finish. Dos Santos was twice sent in
alone on Boston keeper Anthony Latronica in the 56th and
78th minutes but excellent saves kept the match
scoreless.
In the 60th minute, Kevin Holness was the recipient of a
perfect pass from Dos Santos but was unable to control
and stumbled over the ball just when it looked like he
couldn't miss.
Perseverance finally paid off for Toronto in the 88th
minute when Vignjevic sent a lovely curling ball into the
area. Dos Santos timed his move perfectly running
under the pass and heading it down and under the
outstretched arm of Latronica to score his sixth goal of
the season. Pinizzotto said, "He's a smart
striker. If you give him too many chances he'll
score one." "He's good in the box.
A couple of times he was unlucky when one on one with the
goalie" said Vignjevic.
Despite this four point win, the Lynx remain in 11th
place in the A-League Eastern Conference on the bubble
for one of eight playoff position with only seven games
left in the season.
Stuff: A welcome change at tonight's match was the
mellow steel drums of Winston (Pape) Frederick, much
preferable to the ear splitting music usually piped in
through the p.a. system ... the Lynx have scored 19 goals
in 20 games for an average of 0.95 g.p.p., fourth worst
in the 30 team A-League ... Toronto was without Ricardo
Mungaia and Rudy Doliscat, both sitting out suspensions
... Liverpool and Scotland veteran, Steve Nicol is player
/ asst. coach with the Bulldogs. He takes over as
head coach when John Kerr Jr. Leaves the post to
take over Harvard ... the Lynx have signed Jacki Surojan,
a 26 year-old veteran of the Israeli Second
Division. Pinizzotto comments "he's been
training with us for a month, he's very quick and shoots
with both feet" ... fans attending the Canada
vs. Jamaica match on September 2 can redeem their ticket
stubs for a 50% discount at the Lynx vs. Staten Island
match on September 4th ... The Lynx next home game
is Sunday vs. Atlanta. Kick-off is 7pm. The
Lynx will be without Dos Santos who will be sitting out a
suspension. As the Lynx were already being forced
to sit down Doliscat and Mungai, the league allowed the
Lynx to use Dos Santos tonight and defer his suspension
to Sunday. |
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