July 25, 2018 MLS Toronto FC--Toronto FC vs Ottawa Fury (Canadian Championship semi-final) (by Rocket Robin)

................................

Result and details of the Wednesday July 25, 2018 MLS game between Toronto FC and Ottawa Fury played at BMO Field in Toronto at 7:30PM. This was the second leg of the Canadian Championship semi-final. 38 min...TFC Jozy Altidore GOAL...Altidore at 16 yard line on right sideline steps towards center and rolls pass to TFC Justin Morrow at 20 yards near right edge of box. He rolls ball forward to TFC Marky Delgado at 16 yards who has back turned to goal. Delgado backheels a pass and the charging Altidore receives it at 12 yards on right side of box and shoots low 8 yarder just outside top of 6 yard box past sliding goalie Stefan Marinovic at 4 yards on right and ball is into center of open net. 43 min...TFC Sebastian Giovinco GOAL...TFC goalie Clint Irwin kicks ball upfield from 80 yards and ball popped up by header at VW 40 yard line. TFC Delgado picks up loose ball at 35 yards in middle and runs towards goal cutting over to left then rolling ball from 20 yard line over to charging TFC Jonathan Osorio on edge of box. Osorio from 6 yard line centers cross and Giovinco makes flying header at 8 yards up middle between two defenders and into right side of net past diving goalie. 48 min...TFC Jozy Altidore GOAL...TFC Jay Chapman takes short throw-in from 6 yard line on right upfield to TFC Sebastian Giovinco at 10 yards. Giovinco takes a few steps forward and sends in low cross from 4 yard line from far right and Altidore at 4 yards in center of box had stepped behind defenders and beat sliding goalie to deflect off his knee and fly into low left corner of net. 52 min...TFC Jozy Altidore GOAL...TFC Sebastian Giovinco takes cornerkick from left has Altidore run across box from right and flick header from 8 yards just left left of post over goalie with arms raised at 1 yards and drop into bottom right corner of net. 62 min...VW Kei Kamara GOAL...VW Nicolas Mezquida controls high ball when at center line when it settles down and rolls short ball forward to Kamara who charges ahead getting to ball at 45 yard line on left and is behind three defenders on a breakaway. He runs forward to edge of box cutting towards middle and shoots low 18 yarder over sliding goalie TFC Clint Irwin at 12 yards into center of net. 76 min...VW Brek Shea GOAL...VW Yordy Reyna charges over center line on rush down right and cutting towards middle rolls pass forward and right from 40 yards over to charging Eric Hurtado at 28 yard line on right. Hurtado runs into top right of box and eludes sliding TFC Ashtone Morgan. He then runs towards right end line eluding Morgan again and sends low cross from 10 yards along end line ball stopped by TFC Eric Zavaleta at 3 yards and Shea recovers loose ball even with right post and jabs shot between goalie's legs into right corner of net. 79 min...TFC Tosaint Ricketts GOAL...TFC Michael Bradley 30 yard freekick from far left has leaping Ricketts in crowd of players at 8 yards in middle flick header into right corner of net. Final Score:...Toronto FC.......5.....Vancouver Whitecaps.......2.....TFC wins the two-game aggregate 7-4 Attendance wasn't announced but was listed on mlssoccer.com as only 14994 which was less than the Ottawa Fury semi-final game. This was not a part of our season ticket package so we had to buy these although we were given a first in line opportunity. I didn't even realize I had to buy them (I know we didn't get cardboard tickets but we didn't for the semi-final but were able to print them out ourselves). I only found out when I received an e-mail from the club saying it was my last chance. Around me in the stands were strangers (and empty seats) as many regulars I know were not here tonight. Too bad as the way the MLS Regular season is going for TFC this might be the only title they win this year! The Supporters Shield (most points in the regular season) is almost out of sight and even the playoffs are looking iffy for them. There was no Man of the Match for the final which tonight would obviously be hat trick scoring Jozy Altidore but the winner of the George Gross Trophy (the late Toronto newspaper sportswriter) was named as Jonathan Osorio for being the MVP of the tournament overall. He also scored three goals but one in each of the first three games of TFC's run. That was the two games against Ottawa and the first game in Vancouver. I'd agree with that choice as the MFP should be for the best in all the games put together. It should also mean more to him as a Canadian and one of the figureheads of the Canadian National team which was messaged hard tonight with Canada hosting Dominica at BMO Field on Wednesday October 16th as part of the CONCACAF Nations Cup. Jozy Altidore played the entire 90 minutes which I would have expected with TFC building such a huge lead but it make sense as he was Red carded on Sunday in his league match here against New York City FC and won't play in this week's road game away in San Jose so they might as well let him burn off his energy and rest other guys. Forward Tosaint Ricketts (Altidore's usual replacement) subbed on for midfielder Jonathan Osorio at 77 minutes right after Vancouver closed to 4-2. His header so close after the last Vancouver goal ended all hope of a comeback. A score of 4-4 would have given the title to Vancouver on the away goal rule. Various reports say this was the first MLS 'headed' goal scored by Sebastian Giovinco. TFC used the minimum required of three Canadian starters with defender Ashtone Morgan and midfielders Jonathan Osorio and Jay Chapman. Vancouver used four with defenders Doneil Henry and Marcel de Jong, midfielder Russell Teibert and Alphonso Davies. It is rumoured that next year the CSA will mandate the Canadian quotient higher to even it out somewhat in that the new Canadian Premier League will have six Canadians in their starting roster for league games. I'm certainly in favour! With the three Canadian starter requirements satisfied, TFC had room to fit in all three of their designated players as starters. Since the series was tied but TFC had the advantage in almost any tie score it probably made sense to score this early and Altidore and Giovinco did that in the first half to give TFC a huge advantage. TFC win the Voyageurs Cup for the third year in a row. This gives them another chance at winning the CONCACAF Club Championship next Spring but may cause early season problems in the early MLS season because of split squads and extra game during the week causing and aggravating injuries. TFC players were each presented with a championship medal and captain Michael Bradley was presented with the Voyageurs Cup before confetti cannons were set off. Medals were also given to TFC players who only played in the earlier rounds as well. The players then walked to the South end to beat the supporter groups' drums and lead the Viking clap that became a tradition last year. Chris Mavinga brought the trophy over to the east side and posed for selfies with fans all the way downfield. The other players didn't join him. Last year he did the same. We got to see the teenage phenom Alphonso Davies who has recently signed with Bayern Munich in Germany but gets to stay with Vancouver until the end of this season. He had a few good runs but was mostly neutralized by the TFC defence. Ashtone Morgan drew him to cover. This game started with TFC holding an advantage in away goals although they tied Vancouver last week. The were tied 1-1 in the first half when Felipe Martins drew a straight Red card for a sliding tackle just before the half ended. Vancouver scored shorthanded in the second half but Doneil Henry scored an own goal late in injury time heading a ball back and past goalie Stefan Marinovic to deny Whitecaps a win. Henry played competently in tonight's game witha few blocked shots and checks. Also he helped Vancouver make up their Canadian quota. He was wearing a cast on his arm from what I've read was for breaking his hand after punching a wall in frustration after the first game. Kei Kamara scored on a breakaway but was immediately subbed out. In tonight's MLS regular season league action D.C. United won again beating Western Conference Portland Timbers 4-1 and leap three places in the standings from 11th in the East to 8th passing Orlando City, TFC, and Chicago in one night and have games in hand and a higher PPG than these teams. Rocket Robin robing@eol.ca twitter @RocketRobin01

stats from MLSsoccer.com
Match Information

Goals and Assists
39'  TOR  Jozy Altidore           Assisted By: Marco Delgado, Justin Morrow
44'  TOR  Sebastian Giovinco      Assisted By: Jonathan Osorio, Marco Delgado
49'  TOR  Jozy Altidore           Assisted By: Sebastian Giovinco
53'  TOR  Jozy Altidore           Assisted By: Sebastian Giovinco
63'  VAN  Kei Kamara              Assisted By: Nicolás Mezquida
77'  VAN  Brek Shea          
80'  TOR  Tosaint Ricketts        Assisted By: Michael Bradley

Disciplinary
None

Lineup

Toronto FC
10 F Sebastian Giovinco       (67')
17 F Jozy Altidore
 1 G Clint Irwin
 2 D Justin Morrow
15 D Eriq Zavaleta
23 D Chris Mavinga            (63')
 5 D Ashtone Morgan
14 M Jay Chapman
 4 M Michael Bradley
21 M Jonathan Osorio          (78')
18 M Marco Delgado

Bench
25 G Alexander Bono
 9 D Gregory van der Wiel
 6 D Nick Hagglund            (63')
87 M Tosaint Ricketts         (78')
46 F Tsubasa Endoh
54 F Ryan Telfer              (67')
  
Manager  Greg Vanney

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
23 F Kei Kamara               (63')    
29 F Yordy Reyna
 1 G Stefan Marinovic
28 D Jakob Nerwinski
 4 D Kendall Waston
 2 D Doneil Henry
17 D Marcel de Jong
13 M Cristian Techera         (51')
66 M Aly Ghazal
31 M Russell Teibert
67 M Alphonso Davies          (51')

Bench
12 G Brian Rowe
 3 D Sean Franklin
20 M Brek Shea                (51')
11 M Nicolás Mezquida         (51')
19 F Erik Hurtado             (63')
 9 F Anthony Blondell
 6   Efraín Juárez
 
Manager  Carl Robinson

Officials              
Referee               Drew Fischer
Assistant Referee     Joe Fletcher
Assistant Referee     Chris Wattam
Fourth Official       Silviu Petrescu

Match Information
Canada Chmp at BMO Field
Toronto, ON
Attendance 14994
Weather Clear

Team Statistics

TFC                            VAN
 17    Shots                    11     
 13    Shots on Target           4     
  3    Shots off Target          5      
  1    Blocked Shots             2     
 10    Corners                   1     
 16    Crosses                  12    
  0    Offsides                  2     
  9    Fouls                    10    
  0    Yellow Cards              0    
  0    Red Cards                 0    
524    Total Passes            338    
 84 %  Passing Accuracy         81 %     
 60.7 % Possession              39.3 %    
 40    Duels Won                35      
 10    Tackles Won              14    
  2    Saves                     8   
 13    Clearances               16

Toronto FC starters