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Result and details of the Tuesday April 3, 2018 CONCACAF Semifinal, 1st Leg between
Toronto FC and Club America played at BMO Field in Toronto at 8:00pm.
Toronto FC (all red, black sleeves, white names and numbers)
.....................25 Alex Bono
..........9 Gregory van der Wiel...3 Drew Moor...15 Eriq Zavaleta
18 Marky Delgado...96 Auro...21 Jonathan Osorio...4 Michael Bradley (cpt)..5 Ashton Morgan
.............10 Sebastian Giovinco...17 Jozy Altidore
Subs:...1 Clint Irwin (gk)...2 Justin Morrow (def)...8 Ager Aketxe (mid) 14 Jay Chapman (mid)
...26 Nicolas Hasler (mid)...27 Liam Fraser (mid)...87 Tosaint Ricketts (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Greg Vanney
Club America (cream socks, top of shirts, names and numbers, navy shorts and bottom of shirts)
....................1 Agustin Marchesin
22 Paul Aguilar...4 Edsan Alvarez...18 Bruno Valdez...2 Carlos Vargas
........5 Guido Rodriguez...7 William (de Silva)...8 Mateus Uribe
.......11 Andrees Ibarguen...24 Oribe Peralta (cpt)...10 Cecilio Dominguez
Subs:...13 Luis Pineda (gk)...14 Joe Corona (mid)...16 Carlos Orrantia (mid)...19 Alejandro Diaz (mid)
...21 Henry Martin (fwd)...30 Renato Ibarra (fwd)...34 Diego Lainez (mid)
team officials:...head coach Miguel Herrera
Game officials:...referee Henry Rejararo...referee's assistants Carlos Fernandez and Ainsley Rochard
fourth official Ricardo Montero (officials are from Costa Rica except Rochard from Trinidad)...(green shirts, black shorts and socks)
1st Half:...game starts 8:07pm...TFC defends south end on this cold and rainy night. We fans were mostly protected
from the rain and the strong wind from the east.
40 sec...TFC Delgado just outside right side top of the box rolls pass forward for TFC Auro who from 12 yard line
on right edge of box rolls cross is cleared by CA Uribe in middle of box.
2 min...CA Uribe 22 yard roller up middle is picked up by goalie in center of goal.
7 min...TFC Sebastian Giovinco runs into left side of box and at 12 yard line tries to deke CA Edson Alvarez
pokes at ball and upends him. Referee Henry Bejarari calls for Penalty kick.
8 min...TFC Sebastian Giovinco GOAL...Giovinco blasts his Penalty low and down the middle as goalie
Agustin Marchesin dives left.
11 min...CA Dominguez freekick from 30 yards on left is chipped into box and CA Rodriguez charging in near right post
has TFC Zavaleta slide over and Rodriguez whiffs on ball at 4 yards.
12 min...TFC Giovinco and TFC Delgado run on right with multi passes between them including Delgado backpassing to him
from 15 yards and Giovinco's low centering cross is just a few steps ahead of charging TFC Alridore in middle.
13 min...CA Peralto receives short pass in middle and rolls ball into box but defender clears at 15 yards on left
preventing CA Dominguez from getting to it.
14 min...TFC YELLOW card...Giovinco earns it for kicking out at CA Rodrigue from behind at CA 50 yard line. The play
started a dust-up between both teams.
16 min...CA Ibarguen cross from 25 yards on right has TFC Zavaleta at 15 yards in middle of box head ball away.
18 min...TFC Auro cross from 20 yards on far right has flying TFC Delgado head ball and pop it over net from 6 yards.
18 min...TFC Auro clears ball on left side of box preventing CA Dominguez from getting away a shot.
20 min...Club America Andres Ibarguen GOAL...CA Mateus Uribe receives ball at center line on right side
and dribbles to 40 yards and rolls short pass forward eluding closing TFC Michael Bradley. CA Oribe Peralta
receives ball at 30 yards in middle and taps ball back to Ibarguen who turns Bradley inside out and eludes retreating
TFC Marky Delgado and steps around TFC Drew Moor at 20 yard line. Ibarguen steps forward and blasts 15 yard shot
over sprawling goalie Alex Bono at 6 yards into top left side of net.
22 min...CA Dominguez cornerkick from right has CA player on right side of box pop header well high and wide right of net.
23 min...TFC Giovinco has shot from 15 yards on right blocked.
24 min...CA Ibarguen rolls ball from 25 yards into box but CA player on edge of box doesn't move and ball rolls for goalie to pick up.
25 min...CA YELLOW card...Uribe earns it for grabbing TFC van der Wiel from behind on run down right at CA 35 yard line.
25 min...TFC Bradley 40 yard freekick has goalie wide left of net but get hand to it in crowd of players and knock it behind end line.
26 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from left has CA player head away from inside 6 yard box.
27 min...TFC Giovinco is injured on run into CA end at 22 yards on run up middle.
29 min...CA William is tapped pass and 22 yard from slight left is caught by goalie.
29 min...TFC YELLOW card...Osorio earns it for sliding tackle on CA Peralta.
30 min...CA Dominguez 30 yard freekick from right has TFC Bradley leap in crowd of players at 7 yards on right and head away.
31 min...TFC Giovinco low cornerkick from right has flying defender head away from right post.
32 min...CA Uribe recovers TFC goalie high clearance that was caught in wind and chips 35 yarder well over net.
34 min...CA Vargas rush on left through defenders but pass attempt is intercepted in box.
36 min...TFC Giovinco at 40 yards in middle rolls pass forward between two defenders to TFC Altidore but CA Alvarez slides to block
his shot on edge of box and deflect for throw-in on right.
36 min...CA William shot from 28 yards up middle is wide left.
40 min...CA Uribe twists around TFC Zavaleta at 12 yards on far right and rolls shot wide left.
41 min...TFC Altidore at 28 yards in middle has pass forward popped up on deflection and goalie makes catch ahead of TFC Giovinco
at 7 yards in middle.
42 min...TFC Altidore receives pass at 20 yards and pushes aside CA Alvarez just inside box and CA are awarded freekick.
43 min...TFC Jozy Altidore GOAL...TFC Marky Delgado deflects ball when he made a check at CA 50 yard line
on left and ball pops forward for TFC Sebastian Giovinco at 45 yards. Giovinco one-touches lob over defender
to charging Altidore up middle. Altidore receives ball behind defenders at 25 minutes and cuts around retreating
CA Carlos Vargas at 20 yards and shoots low shot that hits underside of Vargas's leg and rolls past goalie
at 7 yards into open left corner of net.
44 min...CA Uribe cross from 20 yards on right has TFC van der Wiel on edge of the 6 yard box head ball forward and TFC Bradley
on edge of box in middle heads it out of box.
44 min...CA Dominguez low cross from 22 yards on left has TFC Bradley at 15 yards in middle of box get foot in to kick it away.
46 min...half ends 8:53pm.
Halftime Entertainment:...there isn't the usual sponsors for this game. On the video board they had a video game contest
of Rocket League...a game that looked like you were playing soccer onboard dune buggies. The groundscrew didn't turn on the
sprinklers during the break...of course with the hard rain. The rain changed to our direction and sitting in the seventh row
I've found the canopy does not offer complete protection.
2nd Half:...starts 9:29pm.
45 min...TFC Giovinco sends short pass from 25 yards in middle over to TFC Auro on right and he has his 15 yard shot blocked.
45 min...TFC Delgado at 30 yards on right backheels pass forward to TFC Auro and he shoots 20 yarder from right wide left.
47 min...TFC goalie at 7 yards dives forward to catch cross sent in from 30 yards on right in front of crowd of players in box.
47 min...CA Dominguez cross from just outside top left corner of box has TFC Zavalata pop header away at 15 yards in middle
of box in crowd of players.
50 min...TFC Giovinco at 18 yards shoots that's deflected off CA Alvarez at 15 yards and wins cornerkick.
50 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from left is partially cleared by header on left side of box. TFC Giovinco after give and go
with TFC Delgado eventually gets ball back along left end line and shoots 6 yarder that pops over goalie guarding near post
and CA Alvarez clears in 6 yards box ahead of TFC Moor.
52 min...CA Aguilar low cross from 28 yards on right deflects off TFC Morgan at 22 yards and bounces for goalie to dive forward
on right post and smother.
53 min...CA sub...Corona replaces Vargas.
55 min...TFC goalie catches CA Arribe's 30 yard chip shot from left on bounce.
56 min...TFC Osorio chips cross from 22 yards on left and CA Valdez head away at 7 yards in middle of box.
56 min...TFC Osorio has 12 yard shot blocked by sliding CA Valdez.
57 min...TFC Ashtone Morgan GOAL...Morgan from own 50 yard line on left sideline rolls pass forward
to TFC Sebastian Giovinco at CA 45 yard line. Giovinco holds up and taps pass to Morgan who chips high centering
cross to TFC Marky Delgado at 25 yards. Delgado rolls pass forward and to right for charging TFC Auro who runs
to 10 yard line and rolls centering pass that sliding TFC Jozy Altidore misses and Morgan kicks in from 6 yards
in middle of box into left side of net over flying goalie who had been guarding right post.
60 min...TFC Morgan checks CA Ibarguen off ball on TFC right end line and clears ball.
61 min...CA Rodriguez rushes into right side of box but fires wide right from 8 yards with TFC Zavaleta cutting him off.
64 min...CA Rodriguez on 1 on 4 to right end line crosses from 15 yards and goalie catches.
65 min...CA goalie out to 7 yards to beat TFC Giovinco to deflected ball.
66 min...CA Rodriguez crosses over end line on roller rather than take shot down the middle from 20 yards.
68 min...CA YELLOW card...Rodriguez earns it for throwing the ball away after TFC Giovinco wins freekick at center line
after Rodriguez knocks him over.
70 min...the fans start the Viking clap.
71 min...CA Ibarguen cross from 18 yards on right has TFC Bradley head away.
72 min...CA William on left rolls 25 yard shot wide right of post.
72 min...I notice it has stopped raining on the field (that's only temporary).
73 min...TFC sub...Hasler replaces Delgado.
73 min...CA Aguilar 30 yard shot from right bounces for goalie to smother just wide of right post.
75 min...CA Dominguez 30 yard freekick from left has TFC Altidore head ball away on right side of box.
75 min...CA Dominguez cross attempt from 15 yards along left end line deflected over line by sliding TFC Auro.
75 min...CA player's cornerkick from left is partially cleared from box. CA Ibarguen blasts 25 yarder from left just
high over top left corner of net.
76 min...TFC Giovinco wins cornerkick on deflected shot from 25 yards on right.
77 min...TFC Giovinco cornerkick from right is whistled down in box for TFC Altidore pushing over defender.
79 min...CA sub...Martin replaces Dominguez.
82 min...CA Rodriguez shoots 35 yarder down middle over crowd of players and well over net.
83 min...CA Martin give and go up middle with CA Peralta who backheels a pass on edge of box which puts him
in alone and 12 yard shot is stopped by sliding goalie at 7 yards.
84 min...TFC sub...Ricketts replaces Altidore.
85 min...TFC Hasler runs to rescue ball and 15 yard shot on chase across box to right is headed at 7 yards by CA William
who pops up ball behind end line to left.
85 min...TFC Giovinco works out short cornerkick upfield from left that's wasted.
87 min...CA Peralta low chip pass through TFC box from 20 yards is unplayed as CA Martins lunges for it at 10 yards
but misses.
88 min...CA sub...Ibarra replaces William.
90 min...CA goalie beats TFC Ricketts to edge of box to pick up TFC Auro's pass forward.
93 min...CA Corona chips cross from 28 yards on left and TFC Moor at 15 yards in middle in crowd of players heads it away.
93 min...game ends 9:57pm.
Final Score:...Toronto FC.......3......Club America.......1......
Attendance was announced as 23,463 on this cold and windy night with a strong wind from the east. I was mostly
protected from the wind in the East stands but a change of direction caused rain to blow in to soak everything
in my seventh row seat. The canopy was still better than the old days as I could see a hard rain falling on the field.
I would face up to the rain when the game was over and we left the grounds. This attendance was more than 2000 less
than the CCL quarterfinal match against Tigres UANL here last month. The rain driving down (not a surprise as it had
been predicted all week) killed off the walk up crowd. Also this game wasn't in our SSH packages so we had to buy
these tickets. The crowd had a lot of Club America supporters and they weren't all confined to the away section.
I had to sit with two of them on one side of me. “New York Supports Club America” was one sign I saw while waiting
at the gates so their fans come from a long distance.
Man of the Match (who is always a TFC player) was announced as Sebastian Giovinco. He scored once and was involved
in the other two TFC goals so was an easy choice.
Referee Henry Rejararo gave out two Yellow cards to each team. He and his crew were from Costa Rica except
AR Ainsley Rochard who was from Trinidad and had the same position in the Tigres UANL game here last month.
I had no problem with their officiating although awarding a Penalty kick looked a bit soft for me from 70 yards away
as it looked like Giovinco pushed over the defender. The Club America players and coaching staff hated the referee
and laid the blame of their loss on him. I did not hear of the tunnel incident at halftime or their team told
to change their leggings as they were the wrong colour.
The weather must have been a nightmare for the Mexican team with the cold and rain. It looked like the Club America
goalie was wearing a turtleneck stretching up to his nose. This is TFC's fifth home game this year and all have
been played in the cold as was a CCL road game against Colorado.
At least the groundscrew didn't have the sprinklers on during the warm up nor at halftime.
The early story was Sebastian Giovinco being awarded a Penalty kick so early in the game. He had a Penalty kick
stopped in Friday's game with a low roller to the left side which Nick Rimando of Real Salt Lake pushed wide
of the post. Replays showed not only this but an identical attempt one year earlier with the same protagonists.
Also a showing of his Penalty kicks against Montreal where he shot one off the goal post and the retake as well.
Tonight he shot it down the middle like Jozy Altidore did later in the RSL game and scored. The Club America
goalie must have been watching the highlight packages too because he dived left to the post like Rimando
so it looked like it dived out of his way to give him the open net as his target.
I was happy that TFC started two Canadians—midfielders Jonathan Osorio and Ashtone Morgan. Morgan scored
a crucial goal to clinch this game and help TFC with a better cushion heading into the return match.
Tosaint Ricketts came off the bench at 77 minutes to replace forward Jozy Altidore—that's identical to the
time and player of Friday's game against RSL! Chants for him from our section started five minutes before
he came on I felt led the some of those who left early from Friday's game and missed his injury time goal.
Midfielders Liam Fraser and Jay Chapman were also on the bench. I don't like how press reports make it seem
that they are playing because the Americans are hurt.
I was thinking Club America played better than Tigres here last month but the result is more favourable
to TFC with a 3-1 lead. It looked like they had a chance to put the series with a fourth or fifth goal.
Another away goal for the visitors would have turned the series on its ear.
I expected more play like the individual effort Andrew Ibarguen showed on his goal but TFC always had enough
players back to block shots and goalie Alex Bono had not much to do.
The TFC training schedule at high attitudes two months ago to get ready for the round of 16 game in Colorado
must have worn off by now.
This was my first game of April and my fifth of the season and all have been cold but this one was the
second that was rainy. Thinking ahead to next year and the Canadian Premier league won't have played their
first game until later in the month.
TFC has been allowed to reschedule their weekend home game against DC United from this Saturday until the
World Cup break so they can rest up for next Tuesday's return match in Mexico City. New York Red Bulls
who are playing Guadalajara in the other semi-final also have this weekend off. The league really wants
an MLS team to win this tournament so they can go over to the far east and play against the best teams from
other continents. The team will go over there and get knocked out by the African or Asian team and never
meet the best of Europe or South America. The European teams are involved in their own champions league
and they have no weekends off. That's a reason they have squads of forty plus players. Still there will
be a lot of fans saying that the MLS is 'soft'. I expect MLS will increase the GAM and TAM amounts of their
payroll and maybe even add another designated player until they win the CONCACAF battle while replacing
Canadian and American players on their roster with more foreigners. Club America has a road game against
Necaxa this Saturday.
Rain was pouring on our way out of the game. I jumped on a Bathurst bus to get out of the unsheltered stop
a quick as I could even though this route was a slight detour for me. We pulled away OK but then were held
up at Fleet Street for five minutes, then ten minutes. There'd been an accident up ahead. Finally the doors
were opened and we got out and walked. A worker was crawling under a streetcar as a man had been hit and was
under the vehicle. I wondered later why we on a bus that was not restricted by streetcar tracks couldn't
go around the accident and proceed. An ambulance came and pulled in through an opening up the street to get
to the site. On my walk to Bathurst and then up Bathurst to King I could see a fire truck, then a police car,
then another fire truck and some other sirened vehicles that I lost count. Finally soaked and onto a King
streetcar we ran into a bunch of Blue Jay baseball fans whose game had ended at around 10:45pm and they
bashed aboard. A man being crushed in a traffic accident reminded me of an episode of Murdoch Mysteries
earlier this season.
A part of me is glad that TFC aren't playing this weekend. The weather this Saturday is again scheduled
to be cold. I expect I'll be down there for a matinee game of TFC II against Pittsburgh Riverhounds
in USL action. It won't matter if they ruin the field as their MLS team won't have a home game again
until April 28th against Chicago.
Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin0
stats from MLSsoccer.com
Match Information
Goals and Assists
9' TFC Sebastian Giovinco (PK)
21' CAM Andrés Ibargüen Assisted By: Oribe Peralta
44' TFC Jozy Altidore Assisted By: Sebastian Giovinco, Marco Delgado
58' TFC Ashtone Morgan Assisted By: Auro, Marco Delgado
Disciplinary
15' TFC Sebastian Giovinco Reason: Unsporting Behavior
26' CAM Andrés Uribe Reason: Unsporting Behavior
30' TFC Jonathan Osorio Reason: Unsporting Behavior
69' CAM Guido Rodríguez Reason: Dissent
Lineup
Toronto FC
17 F Jozy Altidore (85')
10 F Sebastian Giovinco
25 G Alexander Bono
9 D Gregory Van der Wiel
3 D Drew Moor
15 D Eriq Zavaleta
96 M Auro
18 M Marco Delgado (74')
4 M Michael Bradley
21 M Jonathan Osorio
5 M Ashtone Morgan
Bench
1 G Clint Irwin
2 D Justin Morrow
26 M Nicolas Hasler (74')
14 M Jay Chapman
8 M Ager Aketxe
63 M Liam Fraser
87 F Tosaint Ricketts (85')
Manager Greg Vanney
Club América
24 F Oribe Peralta
1 G Agustín Marchesín
22 D Paul Aguilar
4 D Edson Álvarez
18 D Bruno Valdéz
2 D Carlos Vargas (54')
8 M Andrés Uribe
5 M Guido Rodríguez
11 M Andrés Ibargüen
7 M William da Silva (89')
10 M Cecilio Domínguez (85')
Bench
13 G Luis Pineda
14 D Joe Corona (54')
16 M Carlos Orrantía
30 M Alex Ibarra (89')
19 M Alejandro Díaz
21 M Henry Martín (85')
34 M Diego Lainez
Manager Miguel Herrera
Officials
Referee Henry Bejarano
Assistant Referee Carlos Fernandez
Assistant Referee Ainsley Rochard
Fourth Official Ricardo Montero
Match Information
CONCACAF Champions League at BMO Field
Toronto, ON
Attendance 23463
Weather Clear
Team Statistics
TFC CAM
10 Shots 14
3 Shots on Target 5
1 Shots off Target 7
6 Blocked Shots 2
5 Corners 2
8 Crosses 21
1 Offsides 5
19 Fouls 11
2 Yellow Cards 2
0 Red Cards 0
365 Total Passes 500
71 % Passing Accuracy 78 %
42.1 % Possession 57.9 %
49 Duels Won 63
10 Tackles Won 19
4 Saves 0
21 Clearances 8
Toronto FC starters
Club America starters
TFC Sebastian Giovinco (10) takes opening kickoff.
TFC Sebasian Giovinco (10) runs up to score on Penalty kick.
Club America Cecilio Dominguez (10) take freekick.
Club America Oribe Peralta (24) takes second half kickoff.
Club America freekick from left.
midfield action
Club America Paul Aguilar (22) looks to cross.
TFC players salute the south end after the game.
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