July 14, 2024 MLS NEXT Pro...Toronto FC II vs FC Cincinnati 2 game report (by Rocket Robin)

.............100

Result and details of the Sunday July 14, 2024 MLS NEXT Pro game between Toronto FC II and FC Cincinnati 2
played at York Lions Stadium in North York at 3:00pm. (well scheduled anyway!)

Toronto FC II (all red uniforms, white names and numbers)

...........................40 Adissa De Rosario
85 Marko Stojodinovic...68 Lucas Olguin...58 Ythallo...71 Markus Cimermancic
73 Jesus Batiz...81 Hassan Ayari...89 Charlie Staniland...82 Julian Altobelli (cpt)
................72 Mark Fisher...95 Nate Edwards

Subs:...50 Abraham Rodriguez (gk)...74 Kundai Mawoko (def)...93 Pablo Patrick-Galvez (def)...94 Elijah Roche (mid)
...97 Tristan Pusztahegy...75 Luca Accettola (mid)...98 Kristjan Fortier (def)...65 Joses Chukwu (def)...70 Matthew Catavolo (mid)
team officials:...head coach Gianni Cimini...assistant coach Marco Casalinuovo..goalkeeper coach David Monsalve

FC Cincinnati 2 (white socks, shorts, and shirt backs, blue hoop chests, orange names and numbers)

...............................25 Paul Walters
.................96 Gael Gibert...38 Brian Schaefer...48 Juan Machado
35 Kenji Mboma Dem...41 Nico Benalczar...49 Peter Mangione...43 Jesus Castellano
..........42 Amir Daley...77 Stefan Chirilla...44 Ben Stitz

Subs:...30 Hunter Morse (gk)...40 Alejandro Guido (mid)...46 Guilherme Santos (fwd)...50 Yeiner Valoyes (mid)
...52 Yair Ramos (mid)...61 Nicholas Samways (mid)...64 Connor Stout (def)...80 Lincoln Matuskiewicz (def)
team officials:...head coach Tyrone Marshall...assistant coach Shavar Thomas...goalkeeper coach Ryan Coulter

Game officials:...referee Myriam Marcotte...referee's assistants Gabrielle Lemieux and Melissa Snedden
...fourth official Amanda Kwan...(all black uniforms)

First Half:...game starts 3:42pm...TFC defends south end on this game which started late because of a rain delay
with lightning in the distance.
3 min...Cin Machado gets back to bump TFC Altobelli over in Cin box and gives up cornerkick.
3 min...TFC Batiz works out short cornerkick from right and eventually goalie beats TFC Fisher to catch ball.
4 min...Cin Dem runs up right and pass is cleared on edge of box.
8 min...Cin Chirilla 30 yard cross/shot from right is well over net.
10 min...Cin Castellano run up left and draws freekick when pushed near left end line.
12 min...TFC Edwards bends 25 yarder from left around defender and goalie catches.
13 min...FC Cincinnati 2 Ben Stitz GOAL...FCC Gael Gibert sends ball low and forward from right up to find
FCC Stefan Chirilla who turns and sends pass in from TFC 50 yard line in middle over to left for charging
Stitz who dribbles in from 35 yards and rolls 15 yard shot from slight left past sliding goalie Adisa De Rosario
at 10 yards and into right corner of net.

16 min...Cin Chirilla one-touch shot from 25 yards from left that goalie catches.
16 min...TFC Stojodinovic 25 yard low shot from right that goalie catches.
24 min...TFC YELLOW card...Cimermancic earns it for sliding tackle on Cin Daley at TFC 50 yard line.
26 min...Cin YELLOW card...Gibert earns it for grab on TFC Fisher spinning him around at TFC 50 yard line in center circle.
29 min...TFC YELLOW card...Olguin earns it for grab on Cin Dem at Cin 50 yard line.
30 min...TFC Altobelli 10 yard shot from right deflects off goalie's face for cornerkick on deflection.
31 min...TFC Batiz cornerkick from right has goalie in crowd near right post and defender clears.
33 min...TFC Batiz cornerkick from right is over players and defender heads wide from left for cornerkick.
34 min...TFC Ayari cornerkick from left is high and TFC can't draw Penalty kick for tug in the box.
38 min...TFC Edwards bends cross from left at 25 yard line that bounces wide right for goalkick.
39 min...TFC Batiz ends multi pass play with weak 25 yard chip bounces to goalie.
40 min...TFC Batiz has 10 yard shot deflect off sliding defender for cornerkick on left.
41 min...TFC Ayari cornerkick from left is high and Cin Machado heads it out right side of box.
42 min...TFC Batiz cross from right has Cin Gibert clear from enter of box.
43 min...TFC Ayari bends 30 yard freekick from left is high and wide left of goal.
44 min...TFC YELLOW card...Batiz earns it for tackle on Cin Dem at Cin 45 yard ine sideline.
45 min...half ends 4:28pm.

Halftime: There are no fan activities for the 70 people here. Both teams' subs warm up.
TFC leads in the stats with a 7-2 advantage in shots and 4-2 with shots on goal.
TFC sub Pablo Patrick-Galvez in injured at the end of the warm up and needs trainer to be helped off the field.

Second Half:...starts 4:45pm.
46 min...Cin defender heads back to goalie to relieve TFC pressure.
48 min...TFC Stojodinovic gets back to break up rush of Cin Castellano before he gets awaya 8 yard shot.
49 min...Cin Mangione cornerkick from left bounces through box unplayed. Cin player eventually ends pressure with leaping header
wide from 8 yards.
50 min...Cin Machado goes down with 'injury' during stoppage in play but no cards are given.
52 min...TFC Stojodinovic blasts loose ball up middle from 35 yards that goalie dives right to save.
53 min...Cin YELLOW card...Mangione earns it for bumping over TFC Batiz on run down right.
54 min...TFC Ayari freekick from 25 yards along 6 yard line is high to TFC Ythallo who leaps in crowd of players and heads
from 6 yards on left to goalie to catch on left post.
56 min...TFC Ayari cross from right has defender head ball through box on right over goalie so he couldn't catch.
57 min...TFC Ayari another cross over from right and again no one is there.
57 min...TFC Ayari low cornerkick from left is through 6 yard box. Eventually Ayari shoots from 10 yard line on far left wide right.
58 min...TFC Cimermancic rolls ball forward from 10 yards over end line unplayed.
62 min...Cin sub...Santos replaces Stitz.
63 min...Cin Santos keeps ball in play near left cornerflag and cross from sideline caught by goalie.
65 min...Cin goalie makes sliding save to stop TFC Altobelli at 6 yard line who wasn't called offside wide right of net.
66 min...Cin Dem overhead kick from 12 yards is over net on Cin cross from left side out of box.
68 min...TFC Ayari gets into box on 1 v 3 but defender clears.
69 min...Cin Dem shoots wide left from 20 yards on far right.
70 min...TFC sub...Catavolo replaces Fisher.
...........Cin sub...Ramos replaces Mangione.
Hey the sun comes out!
72 min...Cin Chirilla on 4 on 3 on run up right has 22 yard shot blocked.
73 min...Cin players rolls ball up middle into TFC box but defenders clear.
74 min...Toronto FC II (FCC own goal) GOAL...TFC Nate Edwards sends pass forward from 40 yard line up right
wing for TFC Hassan Ayari who gets to it at 20 yard line and races to 4 yards and rolls centering pass that
sliding FCC Gael Gibert knocks into own net trying to prevent TFC Matthew Catavolo or Jesus Batiz from
an easy tap-in past goalie Paul Walters.

75 min...TFC Edwards runs to keep ball in play at Cin right cornerflag. He then gets up to tap pass to TFC Ayari who
has 10 yard blast off face of goalie on right post.
78 min...Cin Castellano runs on left and cuts into center and 20 yard shot is into left outsight webbing of net.
79 min...TFC Edwards run up right and rollss pass forward for TFC Ayari then on breakaway shoots wide left form 15 yard roller.
81 min...Cin Dem cornerkick from left has Cin player twist header wide right from 8 yards.
82 min...TFC Ayari pass to TFC Catavolo who shoots 20 yarder just over bar.
85 min...TFC Batiz dribbles down left end line and cross is low into box and defender clears.
85 min...TFC sub...Accettola replaces Ayari.
86 min...TFC Altobelli has 12 yard shot saved. TFC Olguin gets to partial clearance and blasts up middle that goalie dives
and pushes wide right of post.
86 min...TFC YELLOW card...Catavolo earns it for kicking ball into sign boards after whistle.
87 min...Cin sub...Valoyes replaces Dem.
89 min...FC Cincinnati 2 Stefan Chirilla GOAL...FCC Yeiner Valoyes gets up from turf to dribble loose ball
from center line forward and at 35 yard line taps pass forward and to right for charging Chirilla
who blasts 15 yard low shot from right over sliding TFC Marko Stojadinovic to short side between near post
and sprawling goalie at 4 yard line and into center of net.

89 min...TFC YELLOW card...Cimini (?) earns it on the bench for complaining.
91 min...TFC RED card...A member of the TFC coaching staff is shown a straight Red for complaining from
the bench. This was two minutes after a different staff member (likely head coach Gianni Cimini) was
given a Yellow for complaining.

94 min...game ends.

Final Score:......Toronto FC II.......1........FC Cincinnati 2.........2..........

Attendance grew to about 70 by halftime. This is an all time low since the start of the MLS NEXT Pro era in 2022. Reasons are probably a combination of the England vs Spain Euro Final going on at the same time as this game; that people were recovering from last night's third place Canada vs Uruguay Copa game that was settled on Penalty kicks or anticipating the Argentina vs Colombia final later tonight. I'd say the major reason was the thunderstorm that was scheduled for gametime. Yep! That delayed a 3:00pm kickoff until 3:42pm. The TFC goalie's had just come out for warm ups at about 2:00pm and it was just starting to rain but they retreated when a downpour started and thunder could be heard. The ice cream truck that appeared to make one sale to a security official beat a retreat to do business elsewhere but at least the PA system showed they could adlib by playing Rihanna's 'Umbrella' song and omit the ice cream truck music and ad this week. (He wasn't here at all the last game when his music played).

It had stopped raining before the game started and the sun even came out by the 70 minute mark. The rain cooled the temperature and humidity from yesterday and no water breaks needed to be scheduled.

Referee Myriam Marcotte (leading an all female crew) gave out seven Yellow cards (five to TFC including a Yellow to a member of the coaching staff) and one Red card to a different member of the TFC coaching staff. She wasn't falling for any lame falls and shouts for Penalty kicks or handballs for any ball played above the knees.

I was impressed by the play of TFC midfielder Hassan Ayari today as he had some good runs and set up some passes on a platter for teammates to have shots at the net. I always have an answer available if anyone asks me if there's any player I think can move up to the MLS team. The last two years it was goalkeeper Luke Gavran and this year I'll pick Ayari. He's US born, age 21 and has played for Tunisia internationally and was signed along with Charlie Staniland from England's Sheffield United earlier this season. Today he appeared to take the cornerkicks from the left side while Jesus Batiz took them from the right. I was already penciling him in as a Penalty kick taker but he was subbed off at 85 minutes with the game still tied.

Paul Walters played brilliantly for the visitors. He made some point blank saves, NEXT Pro stats say 8 shots on target, with at least two that looked like they went off his face. He is on an MLS contract. I'd give about 8 shots by TFC that were off target or so it seemed.

TFC continues to have the worst luck. Near the end of the subs warming up between halfs, new roster addition Pablo Patrick-Galvez went down injured and needed help from the trainer to leave the field. He looked like he was called up from the TFC Academy and is age 17. Hard luck as an Instragam search revealed he'd just been selected for the MLS NEXT All-Star Game on July 24th in Columbus.

With the league expanding again in Season 3, it's become less often that you'd host any team a second time in the regular season. Cincinnati was here on April 14th for TFC's home opener and TFC won that game 2-1.

By the time I got home after the delay I waited for the Copa final to start (which was also delayed but their reason was a ticketing problem with non-ticketed persons trying to crash the gates into the stadium) all the Eastern Conference games were over.

The loss drops Toronto FC II's record to 5 wins, 8 losses, 3 ties, 0 shoot-out-win bonus points for 18 points. That's twelfth place of the fifteen teams in the East. The playoff line held by the eighth place team is now 26 points. TFC have only scored 19 goals in their 18 games played so scoring is their major problem.

FCC's record improves to 11 wins, 4 losses, 2 ties, 0 s-o-w points for 35 points. That is good for second place. They've only allowed 19 goals against in 17 games.

TFC were beaten their last home game two weeks ago by first place Philadelphia Union II. Last weekend they travelled to Columbus and earned one point for a shootout loss. One Wednesday they finally made up a rescheduled game in Chicago losing 2-0.

So Toronto FC II doesn't play next weekend. Their next game is a home game on Sunday July 28th at 3:00pm against New York Red Bulls II who as of right now, hold that final eighth place playoff spot.

Rocket Robin
robin.glover.1958@gmail.com
X @RocketRobin01


Toronto FC II starters


FC Cincinnati 2 starters


TFC Julian Altobelli (82) takes opening kickoff.


TFC Markus Cimermancic (71) clears from own end.


TFC Nate Edwards tries to get to this chipped pass up the middle.


TFC Nate Edwards (95) gets to ball in middle.


Cincinnati player tries to get pass to Cincinnati Ben Stitz (44).


TFC Jesus Batiz (73) cornerkick from right.


TFC Hassan Ayari (81) chips freekick directly to goal.


Oh. I'm missing the Euro Final!


Cincinnati Stefan Chirilla (77) taps ball to Cincinnati Kenji Mboma Dem (35) on second half kickoff.


TFC Hassan Ayari (81) crosses freekick into box.


midfield action

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