............
............
Result of the Saturday May 16th, 2009 MLS game between Toronto FC and Chicago Fire played at BMO Field in Toronto at 4:00pm.
Toronto FC (all red, white names and numbers)
................24 Stefan Frei
3 Nana Attakora-Gyan...15 Adrian Serioux...4 Marco Velez...11 Jim Brennan (cpt)
.........2 Sam Cronin...33 Carl Robinson...20 Amado Guevara
.........8 Pablo Vitti...19 Chad Barrett...14 Dwayne DeRosario
Subs:...1 Greg Sutton (gk)...5 Kevin Harmse (def)...7 Fuad Ibrahim (fwd)...9 Danny Dichio (fwd)...10 Rohan Ricketts (mid)...13 Johann Smith (mid)
32 Emmanuel Gomez (def)
team officials:...head coach Chris Cummins
Chicago Fire (all white, black names and numbers, red trim)
........................1 Jon Busch
5 Tim Ward...4 Bakary Soumare...22 Wilman Conde...6 Brandon Prideaux
14 Patrick Nyarko...7 Logan Pause...11 John Thorrington...16 Marco Pappa
...............20 Brain McBride (cpt)...10 Cuauhtemoc Blanco
Subs:...40 Andrew Dykstra (gk)...2 CJ Brown (def)...9 Baggio Husicic (mid)...17 Chris Rolfe (fwd)...18 Mike Banner (mid)...21 Justin Mapp (mid)...32 Dasan Robinson (def)
team officials:...head coach Denis Hamlett
Game officials:...referee Ricardo Salazar...referee's assistants Thomas Supple and Joe Fletcher...fourth official Silviu Petrescu...(all black, neon red trim)
1st Half:...game starts 4:07pm...TFC defend south end on this mild overcast, late afternoon with the game played on a wet field from a pregame rain.
1 min...TFC Attakora-Gyan long throw-in from right has defender in box head ball pop up ball for goalie to catch.
3 min...TFC Vitti passes through to TFC DeRosario who's bumped over in box by Fire Soumare but wins a cornerkick.
3 min...TFC Guevara cornerkick from right is cleared from box by Fire Conde's header.
6 min...Fire Pappa cross from 25 yards on left has TFC Cronin head ball away in box.
7 min...TFC DeRosario charges through to edge of box as defender Soumare wait for ball to bounce back to goalie but he falls over on edge of box.
11 min...TFC Serioux sliding tackle on left sideline at 20 yards to poke ball away from Fire Blanco.
12 min...TFC Brennan good check to stop Fire McBride from getting to ball at 20 yards with midair pop up and clearance.
12 min...TFC Barrett injured near center line when he jumps at center line to try to make header and falls off Fire Soumare.
13 min...TFC Barrett pushes Fire Ward out of bounds at 20 yards injurying him.
15 min...Fire Pappa 35 yard freekick up middle chipped to left side of box but defender checks Fire player off ball.
21 min...TFC Serioux long throw-in from left has TFC Vitti fall in box and play is whistled down for Fire freekick.
23 min...TFC Vitti rolls ball up middle from 40 yards is well wide right as TFC Barrett misses getting to it at 20 yards and it rolls for goal kick.
26 min...TFC Serioux makes important head block to prevent cross pass from center getting over to Fire McBride racing along open left side.
26 min...TFC Vitti low 25 yard shot deflects wide right off Fire Soumare at 22 yards for cornerkick.
27 min...TFC Guevara cornerkick from right has partial clearance. TFC DeRosario wipes out on 20 yard kick. TFC Guevara snakes 25 yard kick well high and wide of right corner of net.
27 min...Fire Blanco cross in from left edge of box has TFC Velez head from 12 yards behind own net.
28 min...Fire Blanco cornerkick from left has Fire McBride leap but pops up header when he's pushed. Fire Nyardo spins and 8 yard shot deflects off defender at 7 yards for cornerkick on right.
28 min...Fire Blanco cornerkick from right is short and his recross has Fire Ward chips 25 yard shot from left that goalie catches at 12 yards.
30 min...Fire Pappa 20 yard freekick from left has defender TFC Attakora-Gyan pop up header clearance at 15 yards inside center of box.
32 min...TFC DeRosario 30 yard shot in crowd is well wide right.
38 min...Fire Ward log run on right but crosses over box wide left for goalkick.
40 min...Fire Blanco cross from left edge of box 15 yards is just wide right of top corner. No one is there to head the ball in.
41 min...TFC Brennan chips 30 yarder into Fire box but TFC Cronin header to right has TFC Barrett not able to get away a shot on right corner of box.
42 min...TFC Barrett running cross in from right even with 25 yards cuts low shot wide right from 22 yards on left.
45 min...Fire Blanco pass up for Fire Nyarko on left wing has TFC Brennan check ball away for cornerkick.
46 min...Fire Blanco cornerkick from left has Fire Conde head ball sideways over net from 6 yards in crowd of players.
46 min...half ends 4:53pm.
Halftime entertainment: The Samsung obstacle course which was fans dribbling a ball around an obstacle course after first being spun around five times by an attendant.
2nd Half:...starts 5:08pm...there's a strong wind from the north.
halftime subs:...TFC Harmse replaces Attakora-Gyan. Harmse plays midfield.
.....................Fire Rolfe replaces Nyarko.
49 min...Fire Blanco chips cross from left 25 yards has TFC Brennan head ball away from 15 yards on right inside box.
51 min...Fire Blanco 30 yard shot into TFC box has goalie catch wide left of post on bounce ahead of charging Fire Prideaux.
51 min...TFC Robinson skips 45 yard shot down middle that bounces wide left of net.
53 min...TFC DeRosario 35 yard freekick from right has ball land in crowd of players. TFC Vitti falls and TFC Harmse shoots 8 yard rebound that's caught by goalie.
54 min...TFC Barrett long cross from left wing at 40 yards finds TFC DeRosario near right corner of box but first touch has defender clear ball away.
57 min...TFC DeRosario cross from right has Fire Conde head ball down in box forward for Fire Pause to have it bounce up and hit him on the arm athough no TFC player was near either of them. Play on call from ref (ball to hand).
58 min...Fire Chris Rolfe GOAL...Rolfe gets breakaway on pass up middle from Fire Cuauhtemoc Blanco from 55 yards and from 30 yards he eludes goalie Stefan Frei charging out of box to slide out to poke away ball and from left puts 10 yarder into center of empty net.
59 min...TFC Barrett rush on left and cross into box from 20 yards has Fire defender twist header out right side of box. TFC Cronin crosses from left and defender heads that chance away.
59 min...TFC Guevara 30 yard shot over crowd of players is caught by goalie after he bats it down.
61 min...Fire sub...Banner replaces Pappa.
61 min...TFC Guevara 40 yard freekick from right bounces wide left of post over diving goalie.
62 min...Fire Blanco 30 yard freekick from right has TFC Robinson head ball away and Fire Banner sky rebound well over net from 25 yards.
63 min...Fire goalie catches cross from 30 yards on right from TFC Vitti in front of leaping TFC Barrett 5 yards off left post.
65 min...TFC Barrett heads 8 yard shot wide right of post getting cross from right from TFC Cronin at 25 yards.
67 min...TFC Cronin falls over on right and pass from Fire Blanco to Fire McBride at 25 yards for clear 18 yard shot that diving goalie tips wide right.
68 min...Fire Blanco cornerkick from right has Fire McBride head ball wide right.
69 min...TFC sub...Dichio replaces Velez.
70 min...TFC Guevara 30 yard freekick up middle over leaping goalie and hits bar near top left corner of net . The ball pops high up and has TFC Barrett head ball over bar from 10 yards.
72 min...TFC DeRosario cross from 25 yards on left has TFC Vitti head ball over net from 10 yards.
73 min...TFC Cronin 55 yard freekick from left has Fire Conde in crowd of players head ball from 15 yards behind end line for cornerkick.
73 min...TFC Guevara cornerkick from left is over players in box and has ball bounce wide right for goalkick.
74 min...Fire Rolfe crosses low through TFC box after long run on right is unplayed as a Fire player had fallen on edge of box.
75 min...TFC Vitti pops short header from 10 yards to TFC Barrett on right who blasts 12 yard shot from right side of box that flying goalie pushes out of box.
76 min...Fire YELLOW card...Goalie Busch draws it for moving the ball too far upfield before hsi freekick at Fire 30 yards.
77 min...TFC Serioux long throw-in from right is headed across box by TFC Dichio on right edge of box and TFC Vitti on left heads ball wide right from 10 yards.
79 min...TFC goalie picks up low cross from left by Fire McBride that deflects off sliding defender along end line.
80 min...Fire Brian McBride GOAL...Fire Chris Rolfe curves low 22 yard shot that diving goalie Stefan Frei pushes wide left. Fire Mike Banner crosses from left near end line and McBride knocks ball in with sidefoot kick from 2 yards.
82 min...TFC Brennan blast from 22 yards on left has Fire Soumare slide to tip it wide right for cornerkick on a dangerous deflection.
82 min...TFC Guevara cornerkick from right has ball knocked back to Guevara who crosses in from right and Fire defender heads it out of box.
83 min...TFC sub...Smith replaces Vitti.
84 min...Fire Blanco cross from right has Fire Conde header bounce wide left for goalkick.
86 min...TFC Harmse cross from 15 yards on left hits Fire's Soumare's head and deflects for throw-in on left.
86 min...Fire goalie leaps to catch ball in box after TFC Serioux long throw-in from left into box is popped up by defender on left edge of box.
87 min...TFC Barrett injured at Fire 30 yard line cramping up.
88 min...Fire sub...Robinson replaces Blanco.
89 min...Fire goalie beats TFC DeRosario to long bouncing through ball.
90 min...TFC Serioux long cross from 35 yards on right has goalie leap to catch on left post over TFC Dichio and Fire Ward.
93 min...game ends 5:56pm.
Final Score:.......Toronto FC.......0..........Chicago Fire..........2...........
Attendance was announced as 20006. There was no rain while the game was being played but it had poured before game time. The Fire had to play against a strong north wind during the second half but that was the half when they scored their two goals.
The Man of the Match (who is always a TFC player) was midfielder Sam Cronin. The sponser was the restaurant Vinnie Zucchini's which the PA announcer badly botched. He also has missed announcing Yellow cards in previous games.
There was a chorus of boos from the fans after this game. TFC has failed to score more than once in all their league and Canadian Championship home games this year. Once again they had plenty of chances to score tonight which would more than have offset the non-call of a hand ball missed just seconds before the Fire rushed the ball upfield and scored at 58 minutes. Although Chad Barrett is frequently the player criticised in the media for missing so many chances, Pablo Vitti hasn't scored in any game this year.
Next up for TFC is another home game. This one is Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm against New England Revolution.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
Chicago Fire (3-0-6) vs. Toronto FC (3-3-4) May 16, 2009 -- BMO Field Scoring Summary: CHI -- Chris Rolfe 2 (Cuauhtemoc Blanco 5) 59 CHI -- Brian McBride 6 (Mike Banner 1) 81 Chicago Fire -- Jon Busch, Tim Ward, Wilman Conde, Bakary Soumare, Brandon Prideaux, Marco Pappa (Mike Banner 61), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Dasan Robinson 89), Logan Pause, John Thorrington, Patrick Nyarko (Chris Rolfe 46), Brian McBride. Substitutes Not Used: C.J. Brown, Andrew Dykstra, Baggio Husidic, Justin Mapp Toronto FC -- Stefan Frei, Nana Attakora-Gyan (Kevin Harmse 46), Marco Velez (Danny Dichio 69), Adrian Serioux, Amado Guevara, Sam Cronin, Dwayne De Rosario, Carl Robinson, Jim Brennan, Chad Barrett, Pablo Vitti (Johann Smith 84). Substitutes Not Used: Emmanuel Gomez, Fuad Ibrahim, Rohan Ricketts, Greg Sutton Toronto FC Chicago Fire total shots: 11 (Chad Barrett 4) 7 (Brian McBride 3) shots on goal: 3 (3 tied with 1) 4 (Brian McBride 2, Chris Rolfe 2) fouls: 9 (Carl Robinson 3) 8 (5 tied with 1) offsides: 1 (Dwayne De Rosario 1) 3 (3 tied with 1) corner kicks: 4 (Amado Guevara 4) 5 (Cuauhtemoc Blanco 5) saves: 2 (Stefan Frei 2) 3 (Jon Busch 3) Misconduct Summary: CHI -- Jon Busch (caution; Delaying a Restart) 77 referee: Ricardo Salazar Referee's Assistants: Thomas Supple; Joe Fletcher 4th official: Silviu Petrescu time of game: 1:50 attendance: 20,006 weather: Cloudy -and- 66 degrees All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
TFC starters
Fire starters
TFC players waiting for the game to start.
TFC players almost score on this play.
Fire Cuahtemoc Blanco #10 and Marco Pappa #16 line up this free kick.
midfield play
Fire Cuahtemoc Blanco gets pass.
.
.