Dwayne De Rosario
De Rosario may have began Toronto’s 1-1 draw in Chicago on the bench before coming on for Dominic Oduro in the 59th minute – to make his thirteenth appearance of the season, nine of which have come as a substitute – but he still made a dramatic impact on the match.
Shortly after entering, De Rosario tried to get on the end of one cross, chesting a finish towards goal, but Chicago keeper Sean Johnson collected the weak effort easily. De Rosario would fluff another chance before getting his feet under him, slipping as he lined up a volley attempt – pitch conditions being what they were it is hard to fault him.
Come the 89th minute, the Scarborough, Ontario-native would finally connect, finding himself in the right place when a right-sided Jackson corner kick was sent into the box. Nick Hagglund met the service at the back-post heading back across the high slot to the near-side, where Gilberto directed a header towards goal.
It was his first goal of the season and the 104th of his MLS career; De Rosario, who sits sixth on the all-time list, is now four goals shy of Jason Kreis’ career mark.
He was not done there either, getting on the end of a stoppage-time cross to direct a header at goal, which Johnson caught and held.
Given a free role, De Rosario roamed all over the pitch, using his veteran savvy to pop up where he could best put himself to use – he even tracked very deep, giving away a foul deep in TFC territory.
His in-broadcast post-match interview was were lively and well worth a listen – Toronto is a club that needs all the fight and drive it can get at the moment. Clubs sign experienced players like De Rosario for these very situations, if they are to get out of this funk, he has a crucial role to play.
He also spoke about scoring and ending TFC’s scoreless drought: “It’s definitely a great feeling any time you score, really, but for us, to come away with a tie, definitely robbed of three points. So it’s bittersweet, for my personally. It’s a great feeling to score my first goal of the season, to help my team get back into the game. I’m more proud of the way we fought and the way we played in the second half, and we were competing for every ball all over the pitch. It’s going to take that kind of mentality to battle through these next games. So, all in all, I’m very pleased by scoring that goal, 100%.”
As well as what Toronto needs to do to hunt down that ever-elusive playoff spot: “I think pretty much how we played in the last 25, 30 minutes of the game, is what we need. Every game, of every minute; for the reason of the season, it has to be that kind of mindset; that kind of mentality. We have to earn the right to play the way we are capable of playing, but right now, it’s all about battling, battling for results. That’s this part of the season, that’s what successful teams do, and do well. They fight to make it to the playoffs, and we have to do that from now on.”
Russell Teibert
Teibert brought his current run of consecutive starts to six with a pair of matches this week, at home against San Jose on Wednesday and away to Dallas on Saturday – they were his fifteenth and sixteenth start of the season, bringing his total appearances to 23.
On Wednesday, from the left-side of the midfield diamond, Teibert put in another solid performance, helping to spur forward the side to a 2-0 victory, while keeping things tight at the back.
He sent an early shot from distance sailing well over the bar, before attempting to play provider, showing some neat passing skill to tee up a Sebastian Fernandez chance in the box and then putting a lovely ball forward for Erik Hurtado, who snatched at the chance.
The Niagara Falls, Ontario-native’s passing down the left was a constant presence, while he collected some seven recoveries, six tackles, two clearances, and an interception in a yeoman’s shift.
In Saturday’s 2-1 loss in Dallas, Teibert reprised that same role, racking up fourteen recoveries, three interceptions, and a clearance, though he was forced to find his spaces a little wider and his passing suffered accordingly.
He would pick up a booking in the second minute of first half stoppage-time for tripping up Andres Escobar – it was his third yellow card of the season.
Teibert did well one play to prevent Mauro Diaz from moving to the inside, forcing the troublesome attacker back out wide and his was his corner kick in stoppage-time that was met by Kendall Waston, drawing an uncalled handball out of Dallas defender Zach Loyd.
He spoke with the media post-match.
Tesho Akindele
Akindele returned to Dallas’ starting lineup in their 2-1 win over Vancouver on Saturday – it was his sixteenth start and twentieth appearance of the season.
Playing up top with Blas Perez, Akindele was a handful for the Whitecaps defense all evening, pushing high, drifting wide – more to the right than left, and dropping deep as the situation warranted; it is his tireless movement that has made him such a revelation this season.
His runs have gotten better as the matches wore on as well. There were innumerable times that Akindele would put himself out of reach with the wrong move, but, with further time amongst his teammates, the required understanding has grown. Take this play against Vancouver, when Fabian Castillo surges towards the end-line on the right, rather than try and move to the back-post or come too shallow at the near, Akindele holds his run, pausing to stay in position to receive the pull-back from the Colombian; unfortunately, the ball came in a little too hot for him to redirect on goal with a left-boot.
The Calgary, Alberta-native displayed one exceptional passage, leaping over the sliding challenge of Jordan Harvey to burst down the right, pulling back a ball to the top of the box and then getting on the end of a Castillo cross to the back-post, cushioning a header to Perez, who was caught napping a little by the unselfishness of it all.
Perez would not be caught out twice and Akindele picked up an assist on the Panamanian’s second goal of the match,
His job done, Akindele would make way for Kelyn Acosta in the 82nd minute, as Dallas looked to secure their lead with an additional body in the midfield.
Wandrille Lefèvre
Lefevre was one of few Impact players to see the pitch twice this week, coming on as a half-time substitute in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw against LA and starting Saturday’s 2-1 loss in New England – he has eleven starts and thirteen appearances on the season.
On Wednesday, Lefevre replaced Matteo Ferrari with the Impact leading 2-0, only for Los Angeles to pull back two quick goals within nineteen minutes of the restart.
The French-born defender was partially culpable for the first, scored by Gyasi Zardes in the 59th minute, for
He was also one of the defenders caught out by the movement of Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan on the second goal – something that troubles many MLS back-lines. Lefevre did rack up four interceptions, three recoveries, and a pair of clearances in his half of play.
Come Saturday, Lefevre resumed his left centre-back position, playing alongside Futty Danso is a radically different Montreal lineup. With a vital Champions League match in a few days and numerous injury concerns, Frank Klopas opted for near-wholesale changes – more on that later.
An early challenge on Lee Nguyen set the tempo, thundering into the midfielder with a hard kick – Nguyen would make them pay for such infractions.
It was Lefevre’s headed clearance that led to Kelyn Rowe’s opener and the centre-back had a chance to clear the flick from Charlie Davies that led to the second, but he whiffed on the clearance, getting his signals crossed with another defender,
Full of effort, Lefevre would make a last-ditch challenge that hurried a Davies shot, allowing Perkins to focus on the near-side by cutting out the far-side as an option.
But repeatedly, his enthusiasm (often by necessity) to step into the midfield was exploited by the Revolution. Nguyen walked around him on one occasion, requiring a goal-line clearance from Eric Miller, while Daigo Kobayashi by-passed him in the midfield, leading to a Rowe chance that sailed high.
Lefevre would see a yellow card in the 65th minute for one such play, stepping in on Nguyen – it was his third booking of the season.
Despite Montreal’s struggles, Lefevre was near-perfect on the ball, misplacing just three passes all night, while racking up eleven recoveries, five clearances, four interceptions, and a tackle. He would make way for Heath Pearce in the 81st minute.
Anthony Jackson-Hamel
Jackson-Hamel, who was an unused substitute on the bench in Wednesday’s draw, made the first start of his MLS career on Saturday in New England – it was his fourth appearance of the season.
Taking up the right-side of the attacking midfield three, Jackson-Hamel was energetic, but with New England bossing large stretches, could not really get into the game. The Quebec City, Quebec-native did have one attempt at goal, a rather weak header from a Callum Mallace cross that was easily caught by Bobby Shuttleworth.
He was guilty of being a little too casual in handling Wandrille Lefevre’s clearing header,
With Montreal looking to spring attacks, Jackson-Hamel was a threat up the right, drawing four fouls and collecting four recoveries on that side.
He would be replaced in the 75th minute by another of Montreal’s homegrown players, Louis Beland-Goyette.
Frank Klopas spoke highly of the trio of youngster involved post-match: “I’ve never been in this kind of situation before with all the injuries, but I thought the guys left everything on the field tonight. More than anything, our young players stepped in, took the challenge and I’m extremely happy for them. They reacted well against a strong team. I’m excited about the future of this team.” He continued, “They showed that they have the ability to play in big moments. Sometimes, you throw them in and you see how they react, and it’s great to see that these guys weren’t scared or fazed by anything.”
High praise indeed from a coach known to rely heavily on his veterans.
Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé
Gagnon-Lapare also made his first MLS start for Montreal in New England – it was just his second appearance of the season.
Alongside Callum Mallace at the base of the Impact midfield, Gagnon-Lapare hand his hands full dealing with the movement and passing of an in-form New England foursome.
The rookie’s distribution was sound, though he rarely ventured past the half, while collecting seven recoveries, three interceptions, two clearances, and a tackle. The Sherbrooke, Quebec-native committed three fouls and suffered the same number.
There were times when he looked a little off the pace, chasing the game – not to be unexpected against a side like New England; he definitely grew into the match as it wore on, finding his rhythm, being combative and strong.
Gagnon-Lapare took a late step on the top of his boot from Teal Bunbury that saw the former American International see yellow and has perfected his ‘foul-by-me?’ perplexed look, contesting a decision for tripping up Nguyen on one play.
Post-match he commented: “I think we had a good start – a decent start. We contained their pressure well and were good on the counter, which led to the first goal. So I think the start was pretty good but after we conceded two bad goals quickly that gave us a tough time for the rest of the first half. I think it was good at the beginning but couldn’t contain their pressure.”
Assessing his own performance as well: “I think I did good. Obviously, I’m disappointed with the result because it was in my first game. I would have liked to get out there with a good result but that’s how it is so we have to move on to the next game.”
Ashtone Morgan
Morgan, having served his one-match suspension for that red card in Philadelphia, returned to the Toronto lineup in Chicago, resuming his left-back’s role – it was his second start and third appearance of the season.
Having played so few minutes all season, it is inevitable that he would suffer from moments of rust. One such play was Chicago’s opening goal, where Morgan was at least partially responsible for letting Lovel Palmer get free on a corner kick. Palmer was initially Morgan’s mark when he stayed on one side of the box, but when he darted to the near-post, he was let go, presumably somebody was supposed to pick him up – with Morgan apparently (given his body language and movement) tasked to stay on the back-side.
Aside from that, the Toronto, Ontario-native looked a little more comfortable out there than he did in Philly, though is clearly still getting up to true match pace. He made several strong runs up the left and was very good in his ball retention in close passing – longer passes and getting that final ball into the box were a different matter.
Defensively, he added six recoveries, four interceptions, two tackles, and a pair of clearances in a solid outing.
Kyle Bekker
With Collen Warner out injured, Bekker returned to the Toronto starting lineup for the first time in three months, lining up in the middle of the park alongside Michael Bradley – it was his ninth start and fourteenth appearance of the season.
Bekker put a weak early shot on goal in the opening passages when he found himself with a clear view – more a tester than a true effort and never a bad plan against a keeper like Johnson who has been known to spill a shot or two.
His passing, as usual, was very good, completely roughly four-fifths. The Oakville, Ontario-native took up some of the set-pieces duties for TFC, hitting at least one really good delivery, only for nobody to bother making the run to get on the end.
Bekker would make way for the more spritely Daniel Lovitz in the 80th minute.
Karl Ouimette
Ouimette returned to the pitch for Montreal against Los Angeles on Wednesday, coming on in the 59th minute for the injured Hassoun Camara – it was his tenth appearance of the season, but just second from the bench.
It was a whirlwind week of emotion for Ouimette, losing his sister Julie to her long battle with leukemia, and when Marco Di Vaio scored the game’s opening goal, he and the entire team came over to the sidelines to celebrate with Ouimette – a fine gesture.
Taking up the right-back position from Camara, the Terrebonne, Quebec-native was solid, contributing five clearances, four recoveries, and an interception, but was
With many members of his family in the stands, the club held a moment of silence for Julie pre-match and much of the talk afterwards revolved around the emotions of the situation. From Ouimette himself: “It’s a nice tribute to my sister. It brings back tough moments, but getting that support from everyone, from my teammates, from the supporters, from my whole family, a lot of whom were here tonight, it does a lot of good. You know you’re well-surrounded, that you’ll be supported no matter what.”
And from Di Vaio: “We wanted to give him and his family some positive emotions. We are a good group of good guys, and we’re together in good moments and bad moments.”
Ouimette appreciated the sentiment from Di Vaio: “It was great for Marco to come and see me, and everybody on the team gave me support before the game. I just came back, so it was the first time I saw them since my sister passed away. It was great to have the guys show they're there for me and have my back. It's a big gesture for my sister. The one that was most difficult was the minute of silence before the game. I was away, I'd been thinking about other things, trying to get past these emotions. It's hard not to have my sister next to me.”
Ouimette spoke with reporters (en français) post-match. He was unavailable for Saturday’s match, staying in Montreal for personal reasons.
Maxim Tissot
Tissot began Montreal’s Wednesday meeting with Los Angeles on the bench, coming on for Dilly Duka in the 73rd minute – it was his sixteenth appearance of the season and eleventh as a substitute.
With the match already level at twos, Tissot was tasked with the dual role of attempting to spur attacks, in search of a winner, while also keeping a lid on the rampant Galaxy, who had already clawed back from a two-goal deficit.
The Gatineau, Quebec-native played one promising ball forward, spotting the run of Marco Di Vaio, but it was slightly over-hit, running into the reach of the keeper.
On the defensive side of the ball, he helped keep a lid on Landon Donovan, making one excellent tackle to strip the attacker and tripping him up on the edge of the area on one occasion – luckily, no foul was called, though Donovan was a little shaken up by it.
Tissot missed out on Saturday’s match with a slight thigh concern, a precaution taken with an eye on this week’s crucial Champions League match against New York.
Louis Béland-Goyette
Having signed slightly more than 24 hours earlier, Beland-Goyette made his debut for Montreal in their loss at New England, replacing Anthony Jackson-Hamel in the 75th minute.
The Pointe-Claire, Quebec-native became the eighth academy player to sign a homegrown contract with the club.
He did well in his cameo, winning a trio of fouls and providing some good running, but lost track of his mark, Diego Fagundez, on one run, Beland-Goyette tried to catch up having spotted the run, but Fagundez was able to find Geoffrey Castrillon the near-post.
Having signed a contract and made his debut, he celebrated his nineteenth birthday on Monday.
Issey Nakajima-Farran
Nakajima-Farran came on for Montreal in the second half at New England to make his eighth appearance for the club – four of which have come from the bench.
Replacing Andres Romero in the 61st minute, the Calgary, Alberta-native took up a central midfield role as the Impact tried to find their way back into the match.
With the Revolution dominating much of the play, he struggled make himself a factor completing nine of his thirteen passes, more often than not in his own half.
Kyle Porter
Porter made a second-straight appearance from the bench for DC United in their loss to New York on Wednesday – it was his fifth appearance of the season, all of which have come as a substitute.
Replacing David Estrada on the left-side of the midfield in the 65th minute, the Toronto, Ontario-native had one look at goal, sending a weak shot Luis Robles’ way in the 80th minute, but with DC reduced to ten men, they were limited largely to occasional counter attacks.
The Rest
Kofi Opare and Sam Adekugbe (twice) were unused substitutes, on the bench, for their respective sides.
Will Johnson was left out of Portland’s lineup for the first time since last August (30th away to Salt Lake to be exact), ending his iron-man streak of consecutive league starts at 35.
There was some confusion as to whether he was benched or left at home due to his tirade against the referee last weekend, but any conspiracy theories were dismissed post-match when Caleb Porter cleared up the situation: “Going into the game, we decided to rest Will, he's played more minutes than anybody this season. He had a busy week, a long week. He didn't sleep much because his wife gave birth. We knew Zemanski would do a good job. We wanted to give Will rest to gear him up for Tuesday; he will start the Champions League game. It's good to have your captain in those types of games for their experience. We knew he could only play two games, and looking at it, obviously we could've played him Saturday-Saturday, but we decided Tuesday-Saturday is just as good. It works out a little better with him having a really long week and not sleeping much with the baby.”
Congratulations to the Johnson family on their new addition.
Vancouver and Toronto, like Montreal, took advantage of their academies prior to the MLS roster freeze. The Whitecaps signed both Kianz Froese and Marco Bustos to the first team, while TFC added Chris Manella.
All videos and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
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