March 3, 2018 MLS Toronto FC--Toronto FC vs Columubus Crew (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Saturday March, 3, 2018 MLS game between Toronto FC and Columbus Crew played
at BMO Field in Toronto at 1:00pm.

Toronto FC (all red, white names and numbers)

............................25 Alex Bono
...........9 Gregory van der Wiel...15 Eriq Zavaleta...23 Chris Mavinga
8 Ager Aketxe...4 Michael Bradley (cpt)...7 Victor Vazquez...21 Jonathan Osorio...2 Justin Morrow
.....17 Jozy Altidore...10 Sebastian Giovinco

Subs:...1 Clint Irwin (gk)...3 Drew Moor (def)...14 Jay Chapman...18 Marky Delgado
...26 Nicolas Hasler...87 Tosaint Ricketts...96 Auro
team officials:...head coach Greg Vanney

Columbus Crew (all yellow, black names and numbers)

........................23 Zack Steffen
25 Harrison Afful...4 Jonathan Mensah...17 Lalas Abubakar...19 Milton Valenzuela
..................7 Artur...6 Wil Trapp
........18 Cristian Martinez...10 Federico Higuain...9 Pedro Santos
......................11 Gyasi Zardes

Subs:...30 Logan Ketterer (gk)...2 Ricardo Clark (mid)...14 Adam Jahn (fwd)...16 Hector Jimenez (mid)
...20 Eduardo Sosa...21 Alex Crognale (def)...26 Luis Argudo (mid)
team officials:...head coach Gregg Berhalter

Game officials:...referee Ismail Elfath...referee's assistants Corey Parker & Phil Briere
...fourth official Sorin Stoica...video assistant referee Sylviu Petrescu...(teal shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 1:10pm...TFC defend south end on this cold and sunny day. The sun moved from the south
to the south west by the second half.
45 sec...TFC Morrow sends low cross from 20 yards on left into box but defender in middle of box clears it out left
side of box for throw-in.
2 min...CC Martinez receives pass up right side and takes 22 yard shot from right of box that's wide left of net.
4 min...CC Higuain low freekick from 35 yards on left is cleared on edge of box by TFC Vazquez.
5 min...CC Higuain backheel pass forward has CC player take 15 yard shot that TFC Zavaleta blocks at 8 yards
off his chest.
6 min...CC Zardes rush and shot from 20 yards is deflected off TFC player back for goalie to pick up.
The wind from the north is hanging up TFC clearances.
8 min...TFC Giovinco recovers his own blocked shot at 25 yards and shoots low 25 yarder up middle that goalie smothers.
8 min...TFC Osorio slides to poke loose ball away for cornerkick in middle of TFC box to prevent CC Afful from getting shot.
9 min...CC Santos cornerkick from right has TFC goalie swat away on left post for another cornerkick.
10 min...CC Higuain cornerkick from left is high and caught by goalie on right post.
11 min...Charging CC Martinez was fed a pass from 60 yards up the left which he picked up at the 30 yard line and cut
by TFC Morrow to get away a 15 yard shot from the left that was off the outside of the right post.
13 min...CC Santos gets short pass on edge of box through on left and sends sharp low cross from 12 yards on end line
that TFC goalie picks up on left post.
15 min...CC Zardes rush from left and rolls 20 yarder through 6 yard box unplayed.
16 min...TFC Giovinco is checked off ball in CC box at 15 yards surrounded by four players.
17 min...CC Zardes given through ball between defenders but pushes ball over end line from 15 yards on too strong touch.
19 min...TFC Giovinco 28 yard shot up middle deflects off head of CC Mensah at 25 yards for cornerkick on left.
19 min...TFC players work out short cornerkick sliding tackle to poke ball away from TFC Giovinco at 15 yard line on left.
20 min...TFC Vazquez chips 22 yarder from top left corner of box has CC Mensah head ball away from edge of 6 yard box.
21 min...TFC Morrow on left side edge of box rolls centering pass and CC Abubakar makes sliding tackle to poke ball
away from TFC Giovinco at 15 yards.
23 min...CC YELLOW card...Cristian Martinez earns it for kicking ball away near center line after whistle to delay
potential TFC quick freekick. Martinez gave up freekick for tackle on TFC Osorio.
24 min...TFC van der Wiel wins cornerkick on deflection off CC Mensah block on right edge of box after pass up right
by TFC Giovinco.
24 min...TFC Aketxe cornerkick from right has CC goalie punch ball away in a crowd of players. TFC Vazquez eventually
on right cross has TFC Altidore miss ball with back to goal. TFC Giovinco chips cross from 35 yards on left that
TFC Vazquez rescues on right end line and heads it into 6 yard box but CC Mensah clears ball away.
26 min...CC Santos shot from 25 yards on right is just wide right of goal.
28 min...TFC Giovinco on give and go with TFC van der Wiel into right side of box and chips over head of leaping
TFC Vazquez on left side of box.
28 min...TFC Giovinco rolls 22 yard shot between defenders up middle that diving goalie saves on right post.
30 min...TFC van der Wiel gets away cross on second attempt from right and TFC Altidore recovers high cross into box
from right and taps ball to left for TFC Giovinco who crosses from 18 yards on left just inside box and TFC Altidore
at 8 yards on right leaping with defenders heads ball down but goalie steps forward to catch on the bounce.
31 min...CC Martinez shot from 20 yards on left is caught by goalie.
33 min...CC Higuain wins cornerkick on low blocked cross from 20 yards on left off TFC Zavaleta.
33 min...CC Higuain cornerkick from left is low and cleared after deflection.
34 min...CC Santos cross is chipped down middle to right and TFC Morrow steps in front of CC player and safely
heads across to goalie.
Nothing but midfield play for next 7 minutes.
41 min...CC Afful 28 yard shot down middle is between players and is caught by goalie.
42 min...TFC Giovinco turns and rolls 18 yarder down middle that goalie smothers.
42 min...CC player rolls 25 yarder after run down left is smothered by goalie.
43 min...Crew Federico Higuain GOAL...CC Artur at 50 yards on right chips long cross that finds charging
CC Milton Valenzuela just outside left side of box at 10 yard line. He gains control on end line and makes
midair cross from 18 yards around TFC Gregory van der Wiel that finds Higuain who had stepped in front
of TFC Michael Bradley at 10 yards even with left post and takes midair shot past defender TFC Eriq Zavaleta
and sprawling goalie Alex Bono guarding left side of goal who can't keep ball out despite getting hand to it.
46 min...CC Zardes gets header from TFC goalie shanking clearance kick and heads 15 yarder down middle wide left.
47 min...half ends 1:57pm.

Halftime Entertainment: Giveaways from Tony of Pizza Pizza and the Nestle Drumsticks ice cream prizes
were given out. The hostess almost offered an apology for giving out ice cream on such a cold day. Some lucky fan
chooses the Sonnet Insurance cartoon scoring in the top corner of the net in an animation. He chooses the winner
in a feature I think is 'fixed'. We are also intoduced to Phil, the TFC E-Sports FIFA player who will represent
the team at video game competitions.

Second Half:...starts 2:14pm.
45 min...Crew Gyasi Zardes GOAL...CC Pedro Santos rush from 60 yards down left to 35 yard line then chips pass
forward where TFC Chris Mavinga slides and misses ball at 12 yards and Zardes who's behind him in alignment with
right post shoots low 10 yard shot to short right side past sliding goalie.
47 min...TFC players rush into box with TFC Osorio able to roll cross from left end line towards TFC Altidore
inside 6 yard box but sliding CC Valenzuela breaks up play preventing tap-in and another defender clears.
47 min...TFC Vazquez bends 25 yard shot from left wide right.
48 min...CC Santos after run down left crosses from 28 yards on left that charging CC Zardes at 7 yards but
TFC Mavinga has partially blocked pass.
49 min...CC Afful threads ball forward from 55 yards but goalie runs to edge of box to pick up.
50 min...TFC Vazquez needs to be helped from field away from play.
52 min...TFC sub...Auro replaces Vazquez.
54 min...TFC Giovinco receives throw-in from left but he crosses while already behind end line.
57 min...TFC Aketxe cornerkick from right is caught by goalie unchallenged on left post.
57 minutes has TFC Mavinga recover a loose ball at the CC 40 yard line on left off a push over CC player and roll
a pass to TFC Aketxe who contines run and rolls a pass forward to TFC Osorio in left side of box and he shoots
low 15 yarder between defenders that the sprawling goalie stopped then smothered on the short side.
58 min...CC goalie beats TFC Morrow to ball to smother at 8 yards on left.
61 min...TFC Osorio on give and go play but TFC Aketxe pushes ball over end line on left.
62 min...TFC Morrow has cross from left just outside box stopped by retreating defender. Morrow then has centering
pass intercepted and cleared.
62 min...TFC Morrow high cross from 25 yards on left end line has TFC Auro on right side of box pop up header
at 10 yards that is well high and wide right.
64 min...TFC Bradley 30 yard freekick from left has CC Trapp as nearest player on short side at 10 yards on left
pop up header and goalie catches on ball's way down.
64 minutes had TFC Bradley at the 60 yard line on the left dribble to the 45 yard line and chip a long ball that found
TFC Giovinco at 20 yards near the top edge of the box on the right and he juggled the ball as he stepped towards
the center and bent a 20 yard shot past the flying goalie and the ball hit the left post and TFC Auro recovered
at 8 yards on the right with an empty net and centered the ball to TFC Altidore who tangled with three defenders
in the 6 yard box and they made the clearance without letting him get a shot.
65 min...CC player is injured.
65 min...TFC goalie makes catch of 20 yard shot from left.
67 min...CC Santos at 35 yards on the left sideline sent in a low cross to CC Higuain with his back to the TFC goal
at 25 yards on the left and he backheeled the ball to CC Valenzuela running between defenders and he took a 12 yard
shot from the left that the goalie palmed up and caught on the way down ahead of the threatening CC Zardez.
69 min...CC Higuain low 30 yard shot up middle deflects off defender for cornerkick.
70 min...CC Higuain cornerkick from left is low and TFC Bradley clears on near post.
70 min...TFC sub...Delgado replaces Osorio.
74 min...CC Santos is bumped over by TFC van der Wiel at 8 yards on left but can't win Penalty kick on left.
74 min...TFC Bradley chip from 30 yards in middle to charging TFC Altidore but goalie catches at 8 yards
on right post.
76 min...CC sub...Argudo replaces Santos.
77 minutes had TFC Giovinco at the 35 yard line on right tap a pass to TFC Aketxe at 40 yards in the
middle and he ran forward and blasted a 30 yarder between defenders and the ball snaked through and hit
the top of the bar.
78 min...TFC sub...Hasler replaces Aketxe.
78 min...CC Afful on the left sideline made a poor backpass from the 40 yard line that rolled between two defenders
at 28 yards and TFC Altidore recovered just inside the CC box and took an 18 yard shot from the left past
the diving goalie at 10 yards and the ball rolled just wide right of the post.
79 min...CC goalie runs out to left edge of box to pick up ball as CC defender shields ball from TFC Giovinco.
83 min...TFC goalie catches low 28 yard shot from right sent in by CC Martinez.
83 min...TFC Giovinco on 2 on 1 break passes and can only win cornerkick as retreating defender gets to pass across
box meant for TFC Altidore from 15 yard line and kicks it for cornerkick.
84 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from left is caught by goalie in crowd of players.
85 min...TFC Altidore turns but can't escape check CC Afful just inside CC box.
86 min...TFC Giovinco shot from 10 yards on right is blocked by CC Abubakar and deflects for cornerkick
. 86 min...TFC player's cornerkick from right has defender head away in crowd of players. TFC Giovinco recovers
ball and shoots 25 yarder from right just over net.
87 min...CC sub...Crognale replaces Higuain.
88 min...TFC Altidore at 40 yard sideline on left rolls through ball pass too far forward TFC Morrow and rolls
for goalkick.
90 min... CC players work out a short cornerkick from right to waste time.
92 min...CC goalie catches high cross from 30 yards on right sent in by TFC van der Wiel.
93 min...TFC players win cornerkick on shanked clearance by defender.
93 min...TFC Giovinco low cornerkick from right is cleared on right side of box. 94 min...game ends 3:03pm.

Final Score:...Toronto FC......0......Columbus Crew......2........

Attendance was not announced at the game but was listed later as 26633 on this cold afternoon with a blindingly bright sun in the south then south west and a gusty wind from the north. The wind caught some high balls kicked from the south and limited their distance. TFC was running into the wind in the first half but were running into the sun in the second so conditions evened out. By the end of the second half shade covered the west side of the field. The Budweiser Man of the Match (who is always a TFC player) was named as midfielder Jonathan Osorio. He was the best midfielder and sent in some good passes. He was the first TFC player subbed off at 70 minutes. He was the lone Canadian playing today. The two Canadians on the bench—forward Tosaint Ricketts and midfielder Jay Chapman stayed there. Looks like with so many new foreign players added this season because of GAM and TAM we're down to only two Canadians on the bench. Is there a minimum? Crew goalie Zack Steffen made some key saves and cut down on his angles but was fortunate that there was a shot off the post and the bar to ensure his shutout. Best non-scoring chances were at 11 minutes when the charging CC Cristian Martinez was fed a pass from 60 yards up the left which he picked up at the 30 yard line and cut by TFC Justin Morrow to get away a 15 yard shot from the left that was off the outside of the right post. 57 minutes had TFC Chris Mavinga recover a loose ball at the CC 40 yard line on left off a pushed over CC player and roll a pass to TFC Ager Aketxe who contined run and rolls a pass forward to TFC Jonathan Osorio in left side of box and he shoots low 15 yarder between defenders that the sprawling goalie stopped then smothered on the short side. 64 minutes had TFC Michael Bradley at the 60 yard line on the left dribble to the 45 yard line and chip a long ball that found TFC Sebastian Giovinco at 20 yards near the top edge of the box on the right and he juggled the ball as he stepped towards the center and bent a 20 yard shot past the flying goalie and the ball hit the left post and TFC Auro recovered at 8 yards on the right with an empty net and centered the ball to TFC Jozy Altidore who tangled with three defenders in the 6 yard box and they made the clearance without letting him get a shot. Three minutes later CC Pedro Santos at 35 yards on the left sideline sent in a low cross to CC Federico Higuain with his back to the TFC goal at 25 yards on the left and he backheeled the ball to CC Milton Valenzuela running between defenders and he took a 12 yard shot from the left that the goalie palmed up and caught on the way down ahead of the threatening CC Gyasi Zardez. 77 minutes had TFC Giovinco at the 35 yard line on right tap a pass to TFC Aketxe at 40 yards in the middle and he ran forward and blasted a 30 yarder between defenders and the ball snaked through and hit the top of the bar. One minute later and CC Harrison Afful on the left sideline made a poor backpass from the 40 yard line that rolled between two defenders at 28 yards and TFC Altidore recovered just inside the CC box and took an 18 yard shot from the left past the diving goalie at 10 yards and the ball rolled just wide right of the post. The fans were requested to show up early but we couldn't get in the gates until one hour before game time which is the usual rule. We had been told there'd be a ceremony for TFC winning three championships last season but nothing was held until after the warmup. The whole celebration was over in ten minutes. MLS commissioner Don Garber was introduced but fans didn't get a chance to boo him (don't fans in every city do that?) because MLSE president Bill Manning, TFC general manager Tim Bezbatchenko and TFC head coach Greg Vanney were also introduced so quickly. Dwayne DeRosario was introduced carrying the Voyageurs Cup, Danny Dichio brought out the Supporter's Shield, and Benoit Cheyrou brought out the MLS Cup. Eleven championship flags were flying in the north end when I looked towards the scoreboard but they weren't even mentioned. Six of them are for Voyageurs Cup victories. Canadian figure skater and Olympic gold medallist Gabby Daleman brought out the game ball. No mention was made at the game about the Trillium Cup—the two team competition between TFC and the Crew—maybe because there was so much else to celebrate. With an never ending expansion of franchises the teams are down to only meeting twice this season and June 2 is the day when they will meet again in Columbus. TFC lost only one regular season game last year...September 20 to Montreal Impact 5-3 and one playoff game 1-0 to New York Red Bulls but they advanced on goal aggregate. I suppose there was too much bragging by media pundits before this game about TFC going to set even more records this year but today's humbling experience may do them some good. Media accounts after the game quoted Giovinco saying the pregame ceremony made the team dwell on their past instead of concentrating on today's game. I felt the Crew players having to watch this would be extra inspired to get a result. The Crew played well today. Last season, during the TFC vs Crew Eastern Conference Final playoff series, talk about the Crew's owner moving the team to Austin Texas without a strong objection from the league was at its loudest but that commentary has died down for the time being. The Crew finished strongly in 2017 with an 18 game unbeaten streak and grabbed fifth place then upsetting Atlanta United on the road and beating New York City FC in a two game series. Their leading scorers for 2017 Ola Kamara (18 goals) and Justin Meram (13 goals) are not with the team this season. That leaves Federico Higuain (9 goals last season) and Gyasi Zardes (acquired from LA Galaxy) to pick up the scoring. Hey good start! My pictures of the game look better than what I could see with my own eyes even with my glasses which tint depending on how much sun is shining. We were given a handful of small Snickers bars on the way out. It was the size of the Halloween candy I bought months ago. I was expecting a fridge magnet of the TFC schedule from BMO Bank I've gotten every other year or at least a package of pasta as Unico were today's game sponsors. TFC's next league game is on Saturday March 17 when they travel to Montreal to play the Impact. Their next two games overall though are the CONCACAF quarterfinal series against Tigres UANL of Mexico. The open week scheduling quirk seems to be the MLS's way of giving TFC an advantage for this series. Rocket Robin robing@eol.ca twitter @RocketRobin0

stats from MLSsoccer.com
Match Information

Goals and Assists
44'   CMB   Federico Higuaín           Assisted By: Milton Valenzuela, Artur
46'   CMB   Gyasi Zardes               Assisted By: Pedro Santos

Disciplinary
24'   CLB   Cristian Martínez          Reason: Not Retreating

Lineup

Toronto FC
10 F Sebastian Giovinco
17 F Jozy Altidore
25 G Alexander Bono
 9 D Gregory Van der Wiel
15 D Eriq Zavaleta
23 D Chris Mavinga 
 2 D Justin Morrow
 8 M Ager Aketxe         (79')
 4 M Michael Bradley
21 M Jonathan Osorio     (71')
 7 M Víctor Vázquez      (53')
 
Bench
 1 G Clint Irwin
 3 D Drew Moor
26 M Nicolas Hasler      (79')
14 M Jay Chapman
18 M Marco Delgado       (71')
96 M Auro                (53')
87 F Tosaint Ricketts

Manager  Greg Vanney

Columbus Crew SC
11 F Gyasi Zardes
23 G Zack Steffen
25 D Harrison Afful
 4 D Jonathan Mensah
17 D Lalas Abubakar
19 D Milton Valenzuela
 7 M Artur
 6 M Wil Trapp
18 M Cristian Martínez
10 M Federico Higuaín    (88')
 9 M Pedro Santos        (77')
 
Bench
30 G Logan Ketterer
 2 M Ricardo Clark
16 M Héctor Jiménez
20 M Eduardo Sosa
21 M Alex Crognale      (88')
26 M Luis Argudo        (77')
14 F Adam Jahn

Manager  Gregg Berhalter


Officials
Referee                    Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referee          Corey Parker
Assistant Referee          Philippe Briere
Fourth Official            Sorin Stoica
Video Assistant Referee    Silviu Petrescu

Match Information
MLS at BMO Field
Toronto, ON
Attendance 26633
Weather Clear

Team Statistics

TFC                            CMB                
 13     Shots                   12
  2     Shots on Target          4
  7     Shots off Target         5  
  4     Blocked Shots            3   
  6     Corners                  5   
 25     Crosses                 18    
  3     Offsides                 6   
 10     Fouls                    8   
  0     Yellow Cards             1   
  0     Red Cards                0   
611     Total Passes           448   
 83 %   Passing Accuracy        81 %   
 57.8 % Possession              42.2 %   
 47     Duels Won               54   
 15     Tackles Won             23   
  2     Saves                    2   
 11     Clearances              20

Toronto FC starters