Friday April 21, 2017--Toronto FC vs Chicago Fire (by Rocket Robin)

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Toronto FC (all red, black sleeves, white names and numbers)

.................25 Alex Bono
........15 Eriq Zavaleta...6 Nick Hagglund...2 Justin Morrow
33 Steven Beitashour...18 Marky Delgado...4 Michael Bradley (cpt)...7 Victor Vazquez...44 Raheem Edwards
...........17 Jozy Altidore...10 Sebastian Giovinco

Subs:...40 Mark Pais (gk)...8 Benoit Cheyrou (mid)...9 Tsubasa Endoh (fwd)...14 Jay Chapman (mid)
...21 Jonathan Osorio (mid)...31 Armando Cooper (mid)...87 Tosaint Ricketts (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Greg Vanney

Chicago Fire (all gray, navy names and numbers)

...................1 Jorge Bava
5 Michael Harrington...4 Johan Kappedlhof...66 Joa Meira...3 Brandon Vincent
........31 Bastian Schweinsteiger...19 Juninho...6 Dax McCarty
.........9 Luis Solignac...23 Nemanja Nikolic...8 Michael de Leeuw

Subs:...28 Matt Lampson (gk)...11 Davide Accam (mid)...12 Arturo Alvarez (mid)...14 Djordje Mihailovic (mid)
...16 Jonathan Campbell (def)...18 Drew Conner (mid)...20 Daniel Johnson (mid)
team officials:...head coach Veljko Paunovic

Game officials:...referee Silviu Petrescu...referee's assistants Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho and Peter Manikowski
...fourth official Caleb Mandez...(yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 7:39pm...TFC defends south end on this cool and overcast evening. The setting sun
is just below the clouds at kickoff so shines in our faces for a few minutes.
1 min...Fire Juninho 30 yard freekick from left is to players charging into box and Fire Schweinsteiger flicks header
from 12 yards forward and right that Fire Nikolic gets raised leg to at 6 yards on right and knocks it into left
side of net but play is flagged offside.
2 min...TFC Giovinco intercepts ball at 35 yards on left and cuts towards goal and rolls pass from 22 yards over
to TFC Altidore on edge of box on right and he taps pass to right for TFC Delgado who has low cross blocked
by Fire Vincent at 20 yards on right and ball deflects for throw-in.
2 min...TFC long cross from 45 yards on right bounces to TFC Giovinco at 25 yards in middle who rolls through
ball pass to TFC Altidore on edge of box and his 15 yard shot from right hits left post but Giovinco was
called offside.
3 min...Fire goalie punts ball out of box puts charging Fire player offside at TFC 25 yard line.
5 min...Fire Harrington cross from 30 yards on right has Fire Nikolic flick header from 15 yards on right wide right.
7 min...TFC Edwards on left near edge of box rolls ball back to TFC Vazquez at 22 yards nearer center of field and
he holds on then chips pass forward to charging TFC Giovinco but he's a step behind and ball bounces wide right
for goalkick.
8 min...Fire Juninho low 25 yard shot from right is between players and wide left.
10 min...TFC Altidore taps ball back to TFC Giovinco who blasts 28 yard shot down middle that lands on top of net.
11 min...TFC Giovinco shoots 30 yarder up middle that goalie smothers on bounce at 6 yards.
12 min...TFC Beitashour low cross from 25 yards on far right is picked up by goalie.
13 min...Fire Harrington long throw-in from right near 10 yard line has TFC Morrow at 12 yards
on right side of box head ball away. Harrington chests ball down at 20 yards on right and Fire
Juninho sends high cross from 22 yards on right. TFC Beitashour pops header at 12 yards on left
side of box and Fire Nikolic rescues on left sideline. He crosses back into box and TFC Hagglund
jumps and heads 7 yarder from middle of box over to right side and Fire Solignac rescues on
right side of box and taps pass to Fire Harrington who crosses back to left and TFC Hagglund flicks
header from 7 yards in middle behind end line.
14 min...Fire Juninho low cornerkick from left is whistled down in box for knock down on edge
of 6 yard box..
.........Fire YELLOW card...McCarty earns it for dissent on play as he kicks ball away after
whistle blown while he was standing at 22 yards waiting to blast shot up middle.
15 min...TFC Hagglund key sliding play at 30 yards to prevent breakaway as Fire Schweinsteiger fed long
pass forward from 75 yards to charging Fire Nikolic.
16 min...Fire Schweinsteiger cross from 30 yards on left has Fire Nikolic miss heading ball
at 10 yards on left side of box then TFC Hagglund whiffs on clearance attempt in center of box
and ball is step behind charging Fire Solignac and ball too far forward for Fire de Leeuw
on right side so it bounces for goalkick.
17 min...TFC Giovinco rush to middle and rolls 25 yarder between defenders that diving goalie pushes
wide left of post.
17 min...TFC Vasquez short cornerkick from left is sent back by TFC Morrow and Vasquez crosses
from 25 yards on left and defender heads away from 5 yards in middle of box.
19 min...Fire McCarty chip forward from 40 yards on left has goalie beat Fire Nikolic to bouncer at 15 yards
on left side of box.
23 min...Fire YELLOW card...Kappelhof earns it for tripping TFC Giovinco dribbling down left wing.
24 min...TFC Giovinco 25 yard freekick from left is batted down and caught by goalie on left post.
25 min...Fire goalie dives forward and smothers ball before TFC Giovinco can get to it. Fire goalie
then falls back with injury after he punts ball to sideline.
27 min...TFC Beitashour cross from 25 yards on right has goalie palm ball at 5 yards in middle of box to elude
TFC Altidore's header attempt.
27 min...TFC Sebastian Giovinco GOAL...TFC Michael Bradley at 45 yards in center of field taps pass to right
for TFC Marky Delgado at 40 yards in middle and he rolls pass forward to TFC Victor Vazquez at 30 yards and
he rolls ball forward for Giovinco near edge of box even with left post and he shoots under Fire defender Michael
Harrington trying to block and ball rolls into left side of net beyond diving goalie Jorge Bava.
31 min...TFC Giovinco 30 yard freekick down middle has goalie palm ball over net.
31 min...TFC Eriq Zavaleta GOAL...TFC Victor Vazquez cornerkick from left is short for TFC Morrow who
runs forward and crosses from 22 yards on left edge of box and Zavaleta in crowd of players on right
heads from 8 yards into short right side of net.
35 min...Fire Schweinsteiger freekick from 28 yards from slight left bends shot just over bar.
37 min...Fire de Leeuw is offside at 6 yards on blast over net after Fire Schweinsteiger in crowd of players
headed him pass from 15 yards.
38 min...TFC Altidore low pass from 30 yards on right finds TFC Giovinco at 20 yards on left and rolls shot
just wide left of post.
40 min...Fire Nikolic rolls 25 yarder too far forward on run down middle and goalie punts it away.
41 min...Fire Juninho cross from 30 yards on left has TFC Morrow in crowd of players at 6 yards beads backwards
header behind endline.
41 min...Fire Juninho cornerkick from right has TFC Altidore head ball forward from 8 yards up middle to start
fast break out.
44 min...Fire Mccarty 20 yard shot up middle deflects wide right for cornerkick.
45 min...Fire players work out short cornerkick from right and ball is finally chipped forward from 50 yards but
bounces through box wide left.
46 min...half ends 8:25pm.

Halftime Entertainment: There's the Nestle Drumstick ice cream giveaway and Tony
from Pizza Pizza with the slice giveaway for one lucky row. Since it's Canadian Music Week
in Toronto so we're told there's a t-shirt toss with some of the shirts having tickets
to the concert 'The Chainsmokers' are giving. Nothing says "Canadian Music" like
having a duo with one guy from New York State and the other from Maine!

2nd Half:...starts 8:42pm. The weather's getting colder now that it's dark. I'm glad I wore my parka!
45 min...TFC Giovinco 33 yard freekick from right is low and wide left but goalie dives for it and pushes
it wide left for cornerkick. No TFC players charged in so goalie could have let it go out on its own.
46 min...TFC Vazquez short cornerkick from left for TFC Giovinco along end line but defender pokes it out
for another cornerkick.
46 min...TFC Vazquez cornerkick from left has flying TFC Hagglund head ball just over net from 6 yards.
48 min...TFC Vazquez feeds pass forward to left from 50 yard line for TFC Edwards who rushes in from 30 yards and
shoots 22 yarder from wide left behind net.
48 min...TFC Vazquez rolls pass from 40 yards forward and to TFC Altidore on right but he pushes ball too far
forward from 22 yards and goalie runs to right to smother at 10 yards.
49 min...Fire Harrington cross from 28 yards on far right has TFC Hagglund head away from 12 yards
near right end line. TFC Delgado rushes forward to check Fire Schweinsteiger at 25 yards in middle
to prevent shot.
49 min...TFC Vazquez charge down middle and passes forward and to right from 40 yards that finds TFC Delgado
who stops at 15 yards on right and taps pass to charging TFC Altidore in middle but sliding defender
pokes ball away.
52 min...TFC Bradley makes poor backwards header from 25 yards on left and TFC Hagglund then tries to head
ball back to goalie from 15 yards but only partially tips it and Fire de Leeuw heads it down and
shoots 7 yarder from left that deflects off Hagglund for cornerkick.
53 min...Fire Juninho cornerkick from left has play whistled down in box.
54 min...TFC Giovinco has 25 yard blast from left blocked by Fire Kappelhof at 20 yards.
54 min...TFC Vazquez eludes check at 25 yards and rolls ball to right but no TFC player had run for it.
55 min...Fire Solignac run on left and rolls centering pass but Fire Schweinsteiger at 25 yards in middle
on first touch rolls ball to goalie.
59 min...TFC Vazquez takes cuts along 22 yard line from left and tries a shot himself rather than pass
and he shoots a 25 yarder low and down middle that goalie bats down then smothers.
60 min...Fire Schweinsteiger held up at 25 yards on left and backheels pass to Fire Vincent who rushes
to end line and crosses from 28 yards that TFC Edwards on right edge of 6 yard box heads away.
Fire Harrington receives short pass and chips cross from right from 25 yards that leaping goalie catches between
crowd of players.
61 min...Fire sub...Accam replaces de Leeuw.
65 min...TFC sub...Chapman replaces Vazquez.
66 min...TFC Altidore gets to bouncer downfield into box but backheels pass and play is whistled down
as Fire Harrington and TFC Giovinco crash in box. Fire freekick called.
68 min...TFC Chapman receives short pass from TFC Altidore but has shot from 22 yards blocked on edge
of box.
68 min...Fire Schweinsteiger cross from 20 yards on left is through box unplayed.
69 min...Fire sub...Johnson replaces Nikolic.
70 min...TFC Giovinco 28 yard shot up middle has goalie dive left to smother ball.
71 min...Fire win freekick on right edge of box on handball deflection off TFC Morrow of Fire Solignac's
cross from 25 yards on right. (TV replay show defender was inside box but no Penalty kick given).
72 min...Fire McCarty 25 yard freekick from right has TFC Bradley at 12 yards on right flick header
across box. Fire Johnson recovers ball just outside top left of box and he rolls ball forward between
two defenders to Fire player at 10 yards with back to goal and he taps ball back to Johnson now
in middle of box and he blasts 15 yarder up middle just wide left of post.
73 min...Fire Harrington can't keep ball in play on right end line in duel with TFC Edwards started
with pass from Fire Schweinsteiger.
75 min...TFC Giovinco run down right after receiving pass from TFC Bradley and he sends low cross
from 22 yards has TFC Altidore blast 7 yard shot over net.
77 min...TFC Delgado is injured at TFC 30 yard line.
79 min...Fire Juninho crosses from 25 yards on right after TFC Edwards pops clearance saving ball from crossing
sideline but giving ball to Juniho has TFC Beitashour head away at 15 yards on left side of box.
80 min...TFC sub...Osorio replaces Delgado.
81 min...TFC Sebastian Giovinco GOAL...Giovinco takes 25 yard freekick from left that bends into
top left corner by hitting underside of crossbar beyond flying goalie.
83 min...Fire sub...Alvarez replaces Schweinsteiger.
84 min...TFC sub...Cheyrou replaces Giovinco who stomps off field and straight to locker room rather
than sit on the bench with his teammates.
84 min...TFC YELLOW card...Osorio earns it for not giving 10 yards on a Fire freekick.
84 min...Fire Alvarez 30 yard freekick from left has Fire Accam in middle of box raise foot
and pop ball well over net from 15 yards.
86 min...Fire player's shot from 40 yards is caught by goalie.
87 min...Fire David Accam GOAL...Accam recovers loose ball at center line and
runs down middle. At 22 yard he taps pass right to Fire Luis Solignac who
continues run and rolls pass back to center eluding sliding TFC Nick Hagglund
and Accam shoots 8 yarder down middle into center of net as goalie Alex Bono
was guarding right post.
89 min...Fire player chips pass downfield from 45 yards on right that's caught by goalie
but play was offside anyway.
92 min...TFC Edwards long run up left and cross from 30 yards on far left through box
and over right end line.
92 min...TFC Altidore juggles ball at 30 yards past defender and runs down middle
and cuts around another defender to get 15 yard shot away that diving goalie at 4 yards
pushes ball wide right of post.
93 min...game ends 9:30pm...(Referee blows whistle before cornerkick is taken.)

Final Score:.......Toronto FC.........3...........Chicago Fire............1.............

Attendance was announced as 27097 on this cool and windy evening. It looked like it would
rain anytime which might have killed the walk up crowd but it had rained yesterday so there
was nothing left to fall tonight. The north wind blew the streamers thrown in the south
end back into the crowd.

Man of the Match (who is always a TFC player) was awarded to Sebastian Giovinco. His two
goals made him the obvious choice. He was nowhere to be seen as he'd stomped off the field
when he was subbed off at 83 minutes and knocked a barrier over. He had done that before
in head coach Greg Vanney's first year.

Giovinco's second goal must be considered a 'Goal of the Week' candidate. A freekick banked
off the bar in the top left corner.

David Accam was the Fire's only star player last year when they were the worst team
in the league but today he only came on at 61 minutes. The combo play of him with
Luis Solignac made me wonder whey he didn't come on earlier.

TFC only started one Canadian tonight—-winger Raheem Edwards. They later brought
on midfielders Jay Chapman and Jonathan Osorio but with some bad passing and poor
shooting it showed why Canadian have lost their places on the team. It was Chapman's
first MLS action of this season. A Twitter message came to me that Canadian forward
Mo Babouli was released by the club.

The Fire only looked good at the beginning of the game for the first 25 minutes.
They were trying to thread passes up the middle between players. They were called
for offside a few times which broke off their momentum.

The two quick TFC goals really shifted the momentum to Toronto and they never really
looked in danger.

TFC win AND score two goals so that means fans can turn in tonight's ticket stub
at a Pizza Pizza outlet for a free slice of pizza.

It was TFC's first home win in three tries. They move up from a three-way tie for
seventh to a three-way tie for fourth. It was the only league game tonight so we'll
have to wait through the weekend to see if they stay that high. Their win leaves
them one point behind Chicago.

The 3-1 score was the same as TFC's first franchise win (against Chicago)
in 2007—the famous seat cushion tossing game. Fans in the South end still
sing the Danny Dichio song (who this season is coaching TFC III in League 1 Ontario).

Giovinco scored two goals to increase his goal total to three which ties him for
the team lead with Jozy Altidore. Giovinco leads the entire league with 34 shots
and 13 shots on goal.

Jozy Altidore had some great chances to score but came up short. The biggest groaner
was when Giovinco set him up at 75 minutes with a low cross and he blasted a 6 yard
tap-in over the net. Probably subbing out Altidore instead of Giovinco would have
stopped the sulking and given Giovinco a chance at a hat trick.

Victor Vazquez is tied with the league lead with five other players with four assists.
He was setting up teammates all night and finally took a shot himself but it was
straight to the goalie.

Alex Bono played well in the TFC net but didn't have much to do.

TFC's three man defence played well with them handling all threats down the middle
and the wingers only retreating for threats from the outside.

Tsubasa Endoh was on the bench tonight. He was the last MLS roster player (of six)
loaned to TFC II of USL to return to the main team. He didn't get on the field and
I wonder if he would have tipped the balance for TFC II's trip to Ottawa.

TFC head coach Greg Vanney's mother died with the last few days. She was also
Eriq Zavaleta's grandmother (Zavaleta is nephew to the coach) so his goal was very
appropriate as a tribute.

Before the game I saw some fans wearing #31 of Bayern Munich, the German National
team and Chicago Fire with 'Schweinsteiger' for Bastian Schweinsteiger, the midfielder
brought in early this season. When the MC Sheri read her 'three keys to the game'
and mentioned him, a huge cheer went up. As the lineups were announced, he got
a cheer rivaling the star players of TFC. Some fans came down to the front seats
during warmups with home-made posters and cameras. He drew much less applause when
he left the game having been mostly being held in check by TFC defenders.
He is 32 years old and his hair is turning gray. He captained the German National
team to the World Cup championship in 2014. It was his fourth game for the Fire and
first on the road with them and his first loss.

Next week they play another Friday night home game—against Houston Dynamo. I'm starting
to like this night as it's NOT yet the weekend and I don't have to worry about
weekend subway closures. It took me less than 90 minutes to get home.

No fans yelled out about the Maple Leafs hockey team's game in Washington so the
game must have still been going on as we left. [late news is Washington won
in overtime.]

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

stats from MLSsoccer.com
Match Information

Goals and Assists
28' TOR Sebastian Giovinco Assisted By: Víctor Vázquez
32' TOR Eriq Zavaleta Assisted By: Justin Morrow
82' TOR Sebastian Giovinco (Penalty Kick)
88' CHI David Accam Assisted By: Luis Solignac

Disciplinary
15' CHI Dax McCarty Reason: Dissent
24' CHI Johan Kappelhof Reason: Unsporting Behavior
85' TOR Jonathan Osorio Reason: Not Retreating

Lineup

Toronto FC
17 F Jozy Altidore
10 F Sebastian Giovinco (85')
25 G Alexander Bono
15 D Eriq Zavaleta
6 D Nick Hagglund
2 D Justin Morrow
33 M Steven Beitashour
7 M Víctor Vázquez (66')
4 M Michael Bradley
18 M Marco Delgado (81')
44 M Raheem Edwards

Bench
40 G Mark Pais
31 M Armando Cooper
14 M Jay Chapman (66')
21 M Jonathan Osorio (81')
8 F Benoit Cheyrou (85')
87 F Tosaint Ricketts
9 F Tsubasa Endoh

Manager Greg Vanney

Chicago Fire
23 F Nemanja Nikolic (70')
1 G Jorge Bava
5 D Michael Harrington
4 D Johan Kappelhof
66 D Joao Meira
3 D Brandon Vincent
19 M Juninho
6 M Dax McCarty
9 M Luis Solignac
31 M Bastian Schweinsteiger (84')
8 M Michael de Leeuw (61')

Bench
28 G Matt Lampson
16 D Jonathan Campbell
12 M Arturo Alvarez (84')
11 M David Accam (61')
18 M Drew Conner
14 M Djordje Mihailovic
20 F Daniel Johnson (70')

Manager Veljko Paunovic

Officials
Referee Silviu Petrescu
Assistant Referee Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
Assistant Referee Peter Manikowski
Fourth Official Caleb Mendez

Match Information
MLS at BMO Field
Toronto, ON
Attendance 27097
Weather Cloudy

Team Statistics
TOR CHI
18 Shots 8
9 Shots on Target 1
7 Shots off Target 5
2 Blocked Shots 2
5 Corners 4
7 Crosses 19
1 Offsides 5
19 Fouls 11
1 Yellow Cards 2
0 Red Cards 0
411 Total Passes 496
78 % Passing Accuracy 82 %
44.8 % Possession 55.2 %
42 Duels Won 40
15 Tackles Won 11
0 Saves 6
19 Clearances 8

Toronto FC starters