September 29, 2024...Five-star Chattanooga FC cruises past Toronto FC II to stay in playoff race (from chattanoogafc.com)

Five-star Chattanooga FC cruises past Toronto FC II to stay in playoff race
Chattanooga FC Communications
Sunday, Sep 29, 2024, 05:15 PM

Read on for a full recap, including comprehensive stats, photos, post-match reaction and much more.

Chattanooga Football Club faced Toronto FC II for the second time on Sunday afternoon in the club's first-ever match outside of the United States, and a four-goal blitz in the second half led to a comprehensive 5-1 victory at York Lions Stadium to keep the club firmly in the playoff race heading into the final matchweek of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season.

Jesus Ibarra opened the scoring in the first half in the 35th minute after patient build-up play to give the visitors the lead. Toronto FC II equalized in the 60th minute through Markus Cimermancic, however, Toronto's challenge in the match was fleeting as the Boys in Blue scored four unanswered goals to cap off a strong performance.

Taylor Gray scored a brace, while Milo Garvanian and Alex McGrath added goals of their own to wrap up an emphatic victory.

"I'm very pleased, of course," said interim Head Coach Chris Nugent. "Winning 5-1, especially when the results are really important at this stage of the season, I'm pleased. I don't remember a lot from the game because of the emotions, but I know there were a lot of really good moments, especially in attack with some of the pressing when we set a weak-side trap. I was pleased with how the guys dealt with the small window of adversity when they made their shape change. Obviously when you concede a goal, the momentum can go the other way, so the guys did a really good job of adapting and targeting some of the spaces that were left. A lot of credit goes to the guys for recognizing that and making the adjustments. There was a lot of confident soccer and smiles from the guys, so I'm always pleased to see that with this group."

The result sees CFC remain in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference with one regular season match remaining.

CFC will host New York Red Bulls II next weekend back home at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga on Sunday, October 6th at 1:00 p.m. ET on MLS NEXT Pro Decision Day. Tickets are on sale now!

Noteworthy

Nugent made five changes to the starting XI from the last match at New England Revolution II on September 21st. Jonathan Burke, Jesse Williams, Logan Brown, Callum Watson and Jesus Ibarra came in for Jean Antoine, Anatolie Prepelita, Duvan Viafara, Luis Garcia Sosa and Minjae Kwak

Ibarra and McGrath both scored to move up to seven goals apiece for the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season

Garvanian recorded his seventh assist of the season to move level with Gray at the top of the category for the club

Naglestad provided his first assist in MLS NEXT Pro action

Gray's brace saw him jump up to four goals on the season

Your Man of the Match goes to Jesus Ibarra 
Box Score
Toronto FC II (9W-12L-6D, 1SOW, 34 pts.) - Chattanooga FC (9W-9L-9D, 7SOW, 43 pts.)
York Lions Stadium | Toronto, ON.

Final score:    TOR: 1    CFC: 5

Scoring summary:
35': Ibarra - CFC
60': Cimermancic - TOR
62': Garvanian - CFC
66': Gray - CFC
70': McGrath - CFC
80': Gray - CFC

Stats (TOR/CFC):

Possession: 53% / 47%
xG: 1.12 / 2.48
Shots: 16 / 17
Shots on goal: 9 / 7
Blocked shots: 3 / 5
Total passes: 560 / 491
Passing accuracy percentage: 90.4 / 90.4
Corners: 6 / 5
Free-kicks: 6/ 4
Total crosses: 4 / 11
Offsides: 2 / 1
Goalkeeper saves: /
Clearances: 2 / 8
Fouls: 8 / 6

Discipline:
8' - CFC: Jimenez Aranzazu (Caution)

Line-ups:

TOR starters: 
Shafique Wilson; 
Marko Stojadinovic (Matthew Catavolo 83'), Ythallo, Richard Chukwu (Stefan Kapor 75'); 
Mark Fisher, Charlie Staniland (Tyler Londono 81'), Lucas Olguin, Jesus Batiz; 
Hassan Ayari, Andrei Dumitru (Joses Chukwu 81'), Markus Cimermancic

Substitutes not used: Nathaniel Abraham, Kundai Mawoko, Costa Iliadis

Head Coach: Gianni Cimini

CFC starters: 
Jonathan Burke; 
Jesse Williams (Joseph Perez 70'), Logan Brown, Farid Sar-Sar, Milo Garvanian; 
Andres Jimenez Aranzazu (Robert Screen 83'), Alex McGrath (C), Callum Watson (Luis Garcia Sosa 69'); 
Jesus Ibarra (Minjae Kwak 75'), Taylor Gray, Mehdi Ouamri (Markus Naglestad 46')

Substitutes not used: Michael Barrueta, Ethan Koren

Head Coach: Chris Nugent

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