May 12, 2011 MLS--Toronto Tormented In Dallas (from TorontoFC.ca)
Toronto Tormented In Dallas Asif Hossain Pizza Hut Park Frisco, Texas Defining Moment A hotly contested first half stoppage time penalty given by referee Yader Reyes led to a Daniel Hernandez spot kick, that resulted in a 1-0 FC Dallas lead at halftime. That goal held up as the winner over Toronto FC, with Dallas happy to play 10 behind the ball while using their speed to counter rapidly on turnovers in the second half. The Reds were off to a bright start through Jacob Peterson firing off a pair of shots in quick succession inside the opening seven minutes. Dallas found its feet as the half went on, but until the penalty was given the Reds had more attempts on target (4-1) and greater possession at 53%. Toronto lost more than the match with that Reyes penalty decision. First assistant coach Bob De Klerk was furious at the call and was made to leave the park by the referee officiating his 13th MLS match in charge. Reyes decided that contact made by Adrian Cann on George John inside the area was good enough to award Dallas the penalty, though winger Brek Shea slipping at the far post added to the confusion. Pitch Battles Once Dallas was up at intermission, the disciplined and experienced 2010 MLS Cup finalists parked 10 players behind the ball at restart. They tried to capitalize against Toronto through fast break opportunities, but attacking Dallas players were also content to run the ball to the corner flag as early as the 70th minute to keep the Reds from regaining possession. For their part, Toronto simply failed to break Dallas down in the second 45 minutes, an admission made by Peterson in his postgame comments. The Reds didn't make it a fight in Frisco after suffering stoppage time injustice. On a 75th minute break, however, second half substitute Javier Martina looked to have drawn at least a free kick, but he was booked for a dive even though the Dutch forward was clipped by a defender who didn't seem to touch the ball. Man of the Match Stefan Frei was commanding in his area on Wednesday night. The goalkeeper was positioned perfectly at the 72nd minute to make a confident stop on Marvin Chavez - who gave the Toronto defence fits throughout the night with his pace and trickery. Toronto players that stood out four nights earlier at home against Houston, mostly fizzled out on the road in the Dallas humidity. An uneventful second half meant slim pickings for MOTM, though a few numbers jump out. Richard Eckersley and Peterson each supplied three crosses from the right side, but Julian de Guzman (who had a 76% pass completion rate despite Dallas clogging the midfield) admitted, Toronto must do better with limited chances. Starting XI Toronto: Stefan Frei; Danleigh Borman, Dicoy Williams, Adrian Cann, Richard Eckersley; Tony Tchani, Julian de Guzman, Jacob Peterson; Joao Plata (Javier Martina 50'), Alen Stevanovic (Mikael Yourassowsky 71'), Nick Soolsma (Maicon Santos 58') ... Substitutes not used: Milos Kocic, Dan Gargan, Matt Gold, Ty Harden ... Cautioned: Eckersley 36' Martina 75' Borman 79' Dallas: Kevin Hartman; Zach Loyd, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Jackson Goncalves, Brek Shea, Eric Alexander (Bruno Guarda 78), Daniel Hernandez, Andrew Jacobson, Marvin Chavez (Bobby Warshaw 89), Fabian Castillo (Ruben Luna 65) ... Substitutes Not Used: Chris Seitz, Moises Hernandez, Eric Avila, Ricardo Villar ... Goal: Hernandez 48'+ PK ... Cautioned: Luna 90' Following Fixture Saturday 7 p.m. BMO Field GOL TV Canada GET TICKETS While Toronto has been in the midst of one of their busiest stretches in club history, Chicago will be well rested for this match. The Fire last played on Saturday in a nil-nil draw against Vancouver that allowed the Canadian club to earn its first away point in MLS. Chicago has won twice but lost three times in five meetings at BMO Field. Last season in this fixture Toronto trounced the visitors 4-1. Chicago is likely to start former TFC keeper Jon Conway on Saturday with Sean Johnson struggling to find form. Preki Post Game Head coach Aron Winter made his most candid comments yet about MLS officiating after 10 games at the helm of Toronto FC. Between the Tony Tchani red card against Columbus (which an MLS official conceded wasn't a correct call), a penalty against Houston's Tally Hall waived last Saturday at BMO Field, the Dallas spot kick form Reyes, and possibly many other instances of inconsistency, Winter feels Toronto is being victimized by 'ridiculous' decisions and he didn't mince words Wednesday night. One stat that supports the idea Dallas was content to defend once they were given their penalty "present" (as per Winter) is total passes. Toronto made 436 of them while Dallas settled for 279. During the second half Toronto players often didn't see a Hoops shirt until they crossed into the Dallas half. Reds had more shots on target (7-3) though many were from distance with only a couple of them causing Dallas keeper Kevin Hartman to spill the ball without any immediate danger. In Their Words “We started well, we didn’t play bad, but if you have a decision by the ref like that – that is horrible. ... It’s always difficult because every game it looks like it’s not the players on the pitch that are playing, it’s more of a referee show now. I’m upset because every week it’s something different with a referee. ... It makes me upset because we are improving every game, we’re playing well, but with those things you can never win the game. Every week it gets worse.” - Toronto head coach Aron Winter. “I think we were just unlucky – they [FC Dallas] played quite well, but we got unlucky. ... I did not even see (the penalty) because I was marking my guy. When I turned, I just saw the ref point for a penalty kick. I thought it wasn’t a foul but he made the decision. We just have to stick with it." - Toronto midfielder Tony Tchani. "I have to look at it again, I don't think it was a penalty but we didn't play well enough to win, bottom line. ... Timing (of the penalty) wasn't great, but we have to come together as a team and be mentally strong enough to overcome that. I didn't think we had in the second half to win." - Toronto winger Jacob Peterson.
back to TFC 2011 news and results
.
.