May 10, 2015 MLS--Toronto FC vs Houston Dynamo (by Rocket Robin)

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Result of the Sunday May 10, 2015 MLS game between Toronto FC and Houston Dynamo played at BMO Field in Toronto at 5:00pm.

Toronto FC (all red, white names and numbers)

............1 Chris Konopka
2 Justin Morrow...24 Damien Perquis...6 Nick Hagglund...5 Ashtone Morgan
11 Jackson...4 Michael Bradley (cpt)...8 Benoit Cheyrou...55 Robbie Findley
...........17 Jozy Altidore...10 Sebastian Giovinco

Subs:...40 Quillan Roberts (gk)...3 Warren Creavalle (mid)...15 Eriq Zavaleta (def)...18 Marky Delgado (mid)...21 Jonathan Osorio (mid)
...26 Collen Warner (mid)...27 Luke Moore (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Greg Vanney

Houston Dynamo (white socks and shirts, orange shorts, black names and numbers)

..................1 Tyler Deric
5 Raul Rodriguez...18 David Horst...4 Jermaine Taylor...7 Da Marcus Beasley
27 Boniek Garcia...8 Luis Garrido...13 Ricardo Clark...15 Alexander Lopez
...............12 Will Bruin...10 Giles Barnes (cpt)

Subs:...31 Joe Willis (gk)...2 Kofi Sarkodie (def)...3 Rob Lovejoy (mid)...14 Alex (mid)...17 Chandler Hoffman (fwd)
...21 Zach Steinberger (mid)...33 Leonel Miranda (mid)
team officials:...head coach Owen Coyle

Game officials:...referee Chris Penso...referee's assistants Joe Fletcher and Gianni Facchini...fourth official Silviu Petrescu
...(teal shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 5:13pm...TFC defend south end on this afternoon that starts off hot and a bright sun in the west.
1 min...TFC Giovinco 40 yard low freekick down middle is into player wall at 28 yards.
3 min...HD Garcia cross from 20 yards along right end line is deflected for cornerkick by sliding TFC Morgan.
3 min...HD Horst cornerkick from right is headed back to him. Horst recross into 6 yard box has TFC Altidore head ball wide left for cornerkick on left.
3 min...HD Lopez cornerkick from left has TFC Bradley pop up header on left post and TFC Hagglund kicks ball away inside 6 yard box after HD Taylor heads ball downwards from 8 yards on right.
4 min...HD Beasley at 25 yards concedes cornerkick to prevent long through ball pass from 55 yards on left by TFC Findley.
5 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from left has TFC Altidore charge forward and head from 8 yards even with left post wide left.
6 min...TFC Altidore wins cornerkick after charge on 1 on 2 up right side and low kick from 25 yards on right.
6 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from right has partial clearance by defender's header and TFC Bradley heads 15 yarder up middle that goalie catches.
8 min...HD Bruin wins cornerkick on deflection off TFC Hagglund from 20 yards near right end line.
8 min...HD Lopez cornerkick from right is headed away by TFC Jackson.
11 min...TFC YELLOW card...Cheyrou earns it for sliding tackle on HD Clark at TFC 50 yard line.
15 min...TFC Giovinco cross from 25 yards on left near end line has defender head ball away at 8 yards. TFC Bradley takes shot from 25 yards that's defender blocks on edge of box.
16 min...TFC Giovinco 40 yard freekick up middle is high and over net.
18 min...TFC defenders block shot HD Clark 22 yard shot from right after he receives throw-in.
19 min...TFC Morrow lofts 40 yard shot from right that goalie catches easily on left post.
20 min...HD Clark wins cornerkick on low cross from 12 yards near right end line on deflection off TFC Morgan.
20 min...HD Garcia cornerkick from right has defender pop header at 8 yards wide right for another cornerkick.
21 min...HD Garcia cornerkick from right has TFC Morrow head away up the middle. HD Garcia gets ball back on right and cross in from 30 yards has HD Bruin head ball high and wide right of net from 10 yards even with near post.
22 min...HD Barnes blasts 35 yarder up middle that goalie palms over net from 5 yards.
22 min...HD Lopez cornerkick from left has goalie bobble in crowd of players then picks up ball at 8 yards.
24 min...TFC Morgan rush on left near sideline and short centering pass to TFC Giovinco has him checked off ball at 18 yards on left by HD Rodriguez.
25 min...HD Garcia cornerkick from right has TFC Hagglund leap to head ball away at 6 yards.
26 min...HD Lopez cornerkick from right has TFC Bradley head ball away on pop up at 5 yards and HD Garrido charges forward and heads ball wide left from 20 yards on right.
28 min...HD Bruin rush on 2 on 2 and goalie on right makes point blank stop at 15 yards.
28 min...HD Garcia low freekick from right has TFC Bradley at 12 yards on right clear ball forward.
30 min...HD Garcia run up middle and shot/pass is blocked at 40 yards. HD Garcia taps ball over to HD Lopez who shoots 35 yarder high and wide right.
33 min...TFC Jackson cross from 20 yards on right has defender head ball away at 5 yards.
34 min...TFC Bradley short pass to TFC Altidore whose low 25 yard shot up middle is deflected off defender at 8 yards for cornerkick.
34 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from left is well over box and bounces for goalkick.
37 min...TFC Morrow hand ball break out at 70 yards and rushes upfield on right and centers a pass at 40 yards to TFC Giovinco who has 25 yard shot up middle shot deflected for cornerkick.
38 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from left has HD Barnes boot ball away from 6 yards on near post.
38 min...TFC Altidore wins cornerkick on check on left end line.
39 min...TFC Giovinco low cornerkick from left has HD defender kick ball away from 6 yards on near post.
40 min...TFC Altidore long rush on right wing and cross from 25 yards to charging TFC Giovinco who shoots 8 yarder on left well over net.
40 min...HD YELLOW card...Taylor earns it for pulling on TFC Altidore on delayed call from last play.
42 min...HD Garcia cross from 20 yards on right bounces in box to HD Barnes rescues ball near left end line and taps back to HD Lopez at 20 yards. Lopez taps ball forward to charging HD Beasley on inside left side of box and TFC Bradley slides and trips him at 10 yard line. Referee signals for a Penalty kick.
43 min...HD Boniek Garcia GOAL...Garcia blasts Penalty kick to low right that diving goalie Chris Konopka blocks. Rebound deflects out to Garcia who blasts ball from 8 yards that bounces over prone goalie into center of net.
44 min...HD Beasley charges down left to collect forward pass and gets cross through 6 yard box that's just step ahead of charging HD player and TFC Morgan on right concedes cornerkick.
44 min...HD Lopez cornerkick from right has TFC player head ball down and TFC Perquis dribbles ball out of box and sends long punt downfield for charging TFC Giovinco who wins freekick.
45 min...TFC Giovinco rolls short freekick from 22 yards on left to charging TFC Cheyrou who blasts 10 yarder down middle over net.
45 min...half ends 5:58pm.

Halftime Entertainment:...there's a shirt toss, a pizza slice giveaway to one lucky row, and a drumstick giveaway. All these had been done in previous years. I couldn't understand one word of what new MC Shari Leavitt was saying. Ironically the MC in previous years, Rachel Bonnetta, who now works at the MLS offices in New York City, was in town for this game to help out.

Dwayne DeRosario was named as a TFC Community Ambassador. He was scheduled to take a ceremonial kickoff at the League 1 Ontario Sanjaxx Lions home opener up at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York. I don't know how he'd make it up there by 8:00pm but he must have a good escape route.

2nd Half:...starts 6:15pm...the weather is now cooler and cloudy.
46 min...TFC Morgan cross from 15 yards on left end line has HD Beasley head away at 10 yards on right side of box.
46 min...TFC Bradley low shot up middle from 28 yards has TFC Giovinco at 18 yards deflect ball wide right of net.
48 min...HD Rodriguez pass forward from 50 yards on right has goalie beat HD Barnes to pick up ball.
50 min...HD Garrido skies ball from 50 yards on right has goalie catch on bounce.
52 min...HD Will Bruin GOAL...HD Giles Barnes long run down field from TFC 25 yard line has him on 1 on 4 beat defenders including turning TFC Nick Hagglund inside out at 35 yards and rolls pass forward as he falls for HD Bruin to beat sliding TFC Damien Perquis to shoot 12 yarder into left side of net of charging goalie at 6 yards.
53 min...TFC Giovinco can't get away shot on edge of HD box after short run up middle.
56 min...TFC sub...Osorio replaces Findley.
57 min...it now starts to rain as HD Barnes ties his shoes in TFC end.
60 min...TFC Jackson rolls 18 yard cross from right that has goalie dive on ball at 4 yards in middle of box.
63 min...TFC Morgan at 10 yards in middle heads away HD Barnes cross from 22 yards near left end line.
63 min...HD Lopez rolls ball back from 12 yards on left for HD Barnes to take 22 yard shot up middle that has goalie jump but miss swatting ball and ball hits bar and pops back to right where TFC Morgan forces HD player to outside and ball is cleared.
64 min...TFC Jackson can't win Penalty kick when he's pushed off ball at 12 yards by defender after receiving pass from 35 yards from TFC Bradley.
64 min...HD Barnes rolls pass from 30 yards too far forward for HD Bruin to get to and ball rolls over endline.
65 min...TFC Bradley chips 35 yard shot down middle that goalie catches by stepping forward at 8 yards.
66 min...HD Garcia cross from 18 yards along right end line has goalie catch ball overhead.
67 min...TFC Osorio regains possession on left side of box and chips pass has TFC Bradley shoot midair 15 yarder down middle well high and wide right of net.
68 min...TFC Morgan heads HD Horst headed partial clearance from 20 yards over players in box and caught by goalie stepping forward to 6 yards.
69 min...TFC sub...Warner replaces Jackson.
70 min...TFC Osorio cross from 25 yards on left has TFC Altidore head ball wide right from 10 yards in crowd of players.
71 min...HD Barnes runs to left end line to keep ball in play and sliding TFC Perquis concedes cornerkick on tackle along line at 20 yards.
71 min...HD Lopez cornerkick from left has leaping goalie palm ball through box at 1 yard for cornerkick on right.
72 min...HD Garcia cornerkick from right has ball bounce in box over to HD Taylor shoot from 10 yards on left that deflects off leg of HD player and TFC Hagglund pops ball up on kick at 4 yards and HD player pops header at 6 yards on left and TFC Bradley heads it forward and out of box.
73 min...TFC Bradley on rush up middle rolls 22 yard wide right of net.
73 min...HD sub...Lovejoy replaces Lopez.
74 min...TFC Morrow cross from 30 yards on right has defender at 10 yards head ball away from box.
75 min...TFC Giovinco 30 yard blast deflects off sliding defender and pops over net.
75 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from right has HD Barnes as nearest defender at 6 yards on right head ball away.
76 min...TFC Jozy Altidore GOAL...TFC Jonathan Osorio cross from left at 20 yards has Altidore even with right post flick 7 yarder header into right side of net just inside post beyond flying goalie HD Tyler Deric.
78 min...HD Barnes dribbles ball past TFC Perquis at 12 yards on left and rolls cross through 6 yard box but no one is on other side. HD Garcia rescues ball near right cornerflag and crosses back into box where TFC Hagglund heads ball away from 5 yards even with right post.
80 min...HD Clark is injured in center circle although it was TFC Bradley who's body checked HD Beasley inside the circle giving HD a freekick.
81 min...HD sub...Miranda replaces injured Clark.
82 min...HD sub...Steinberger replaces Garcia.
83 min...HD Barnes runs 80 yards upfield on right and has cross blocked by TFC Hagglund at 12 yards on right and deflect for cornerkick.
83 min...HD Barnes squats down for injury before cornerkick taken.
85 min...HD Miranda cornerkick from right has HD Taylor head ball down at 8 yards on left and TFC Hagglund punts clearance.
86 min...TFC Warner in middle chips 35 yarder into box wide left as it's too far forward for charging TFC Osorio.
88 min...TFC Giovinco rush down right side and crosses high from 20 yards on right edge of box and TFC Altidore at 5 yards even with left post and defender leap for ball and it pops up and goalie catches at 3 yards near post.
90 min...TFC Altidore chips ball from 30 yard down middle and TFC Warner at 18 yards on right heads ball across box and flying HD player pops up header at 15 yards in middle. TFC Giovinco recovers at 22 yards on right taps pass over to TFC Morrow who's cross from 25 yards on right deflects off HD Lovejoy for cornerkick.
90 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from right has TFC Cheyrou leaps and heads 6 yarder over net.
91 min...TFC sub...Moore replaces Perquis.
92 min...HD YELLOW card...Miranda earns it for wasting time taking throw-in.
92 min...HD Barnes shoots 22 yarder over net when tapped pass.
94 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from right has TFC goalie head ball downward from 12 yards and HD goalie leaps to make save under bar on bounce.
94 min...TFC Osorio cross from 30 yards on left has HD Beasley kick away ball at 8 yards in middle of box. TFC Hagglund rushes forward to get to ball at 30 yards and rushes to right and cross from 25 yards near cornerflag has TFC Bradley in middle of box head 15 yarder over net.
96 min...TFC Osorio cross from 25 yards on left is into group of players on right post and HD Lovejoy jumps highest and heads ball over end line for cornerkick but referee blows whistle to end game as soon as ball is over end line.
96 min...game ends 7:06pm.

Final Score:.....Toronto FC.......1..........Houston Dynamo...........2........

Today was the first game at the newly renovated BMO Field. There's been 8400 more seats added in a tier behind my section of the East side. The stadium now has a 31000 capacity but the construction project is not over because there will be a roof placed over the stands that will start in October so TFC will start their 2016 season with two months on the road. Attendance was announced as 30226 although I saw some seats that never filled in including two in my row.

TFC started the season on the road for their first seven games. They won their last two MLS games and open today with a respectable 3 wins 4 losses, 0 ties--good for 5th place in the weak Eastern Conference with games in hand on all the teams ahead of them.

This year's designated players are midfielder Michael Bradley (his second year), Jozy Altidore a striker to replaces Jermaine Defoe (the two exchanged places to/from Sunderland of the English Premier league), and forward Sebastian Giovinco who was bought from Juventes and is similar in size to Defoe. The odd man out was Gilberto who only started to shine near the end of last season.

I really was fooled in this game. I thought certain that TFC would win. All the talk about their long road trip and struggles would turn around once they got to play at home. Dynamo had been struggling with two losses in a row and hadn't won on the road this year and had only won two games out of ten this season. Still the Western Conference has the better teams with them going 4-1-1 against Eastern teams this weekend. TFC can always look at it as only having to beat four of the Eastern teams to reach the playoffs for the first time now that they let the first six into the post season.

Man of the Match (who is always a TFC player) was announced as forward Jozy Altidore. He did score their lone goal (his team leading fifth of the season) in all the chances he had but for me Jonathan Osorio who didn't come on until 56 minutes did more (including the assist) to be my choice.

There was a threat of thunderstorms on the weather reports. The roof won't be constructed until next season so I just had to put up with it when rain starting around the time of the TFC goal--no umbrellas allowed. I was almost expecting a complete comeback like TFC had against Columbus last year with an injury time goal in a downpour.

The doors must have opened sometime before 3:30pm which was a change from other games when we were held back until one hour before gametime. At a pregame ceremony to celebrate Mother's Day, flowers were presented to a group of women who turned out to be player's mothers. There was also a fireworks display which lost much of its effect because of the bright sunlight.

I bought the game program. It's still only $3.00 like last year and the same number of pages. Nothing wrong except I expect a lot of repetition for the next few months.

It was a very hot day and I did not bring the scarf that I received with my season ticket package. It was the first time the scarf wasn't attached to the home opener ticket but the team knew it wouldn't play it's first home game until May so we wouldn't need it for warmth even though this was the longest and coldest winter on record.

There was a long lineup for the washroom after the game--no difference from last year--but at least no longer with the expansion of seats. That new section must be self sufficient. The only difference I saw that the corridor seemed a little wider than it was and not exposed to the outside any longer so it was dark inside. There is one quick exit in the north east corner which I made note of for next time.

I hurried out of the grounds so I would make sure I got a fridge magnet from the BMO bank of the TFC schedule. That went with the flag that had been placed in each seat at the game with instructions of what time to wave it. After the game I picked a few from the seats of the no-shows and people who'd left them behind. Another fan grabbed into a carton that contained more flags and gave me some black coloured ones, not a difference from the red one at my seat.

I then waited 35 minutes for a Harbourfront streetcar. We could get in the backdoors so I expected they'd collected fares at the subway station but there was no fareboxes set up making me feel somewhat better for how much time I'd wasted. Actually I was pleased that the streetcar has been restored after two years of track reconstruction because it does have a dedicated right of way keeping it away from car traffic. Other good transit news for me was although the subway was undergoing renovations, it wasn't my line that was disturbed today.

Next game at BMO Field is on Wednesday night against Montreal Impact in the second leg of the Voyageurs Cup semi-final with Impact currently leading on a 1-0 aggregate.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

stats from MLSsoccer.com
Match Information

Toronto FC (3-5-0; 9 points) vs. Houston Dynamo (3-4-4; 13 points)
 MLS regular season
 May 10, 2015 – BMO Field, Toronto, ON
 Attendance: 30,226

Scoring Summary: 
 Houston Dynamo: Boniek García 1 (unassisted) 44
 Houston Dynamo: Will Bruin 2 (Giles Barnes 1) 53
 Toronto FC: Jozy Altidore 5 (Jonathan Osorio 1) 77

Houston Dynamo: 
Tyler Deric; 
Raúl Rodríguez, David Horst, Jermaine Taylor, DaMarcus Beasley; 
Boniek García (Zach Steinberger 83), Ricardo Clark (Leonel Miranda 83), Luis Garrido, Alexander López (Rob Lovejoy 74); 
Giles Barnes ©, Will Bruin

Substitutes not used: Joe Willis, Kofi Sarkodie, Alex, Chandler Hoffman

Toronto FC: 
Chris Konopka; 
Justin Morrow, Damien Perquis (Luke Moore 90+1), Nick Hagglund, Ashtone Morgan; 
Jackson (Collen Warner 70), Michael Bradley, Benoit Cheyrou, Robbie Findley (Jonathan Osorio 58); 
Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore

Substitues not used: Quillian Roberts, Warren Creavalle, Marco Delgado, Eriq Zavaleta

Disciplinary summary
 TFC: Benoit Cheyrou (caution) 12
 HOU: Leonel Miranda (caution) 90+3

Referee: Chris Penso
Assistant Referees: Joe Fletcher, Gianni Facchini
Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu

Stats:

TOR                            HOU
 22     Shots                   17 
  4     Shots on Target          5 
 10     Shots off Target         6 
  8     Blocked Shots            6 
  9     Corners                 13 
 31     Crosses                 26 
  1     Offsides                 1 
  8     Fouls                    8 
  1     Yellow Cards             1 
  0     Red Cards                0 
343     Total Passes           356 
 77 %   Passing Accuracy        77 % 
 49.8 % Possession              50.2 % 
 59     Duels Won               42 
 17     Tackles Won             17 
  3     Saves                    3 
 33     Clearances              38

Toronto FC starters