Didn’t see that coming did you?
TFC’s last minute equalizer against LA – coming minutes after a heartbreaking goal by LA – was maybe the most unexpected goal in TFC history. No, really. This is a team that makes LeBron James look clutch. Blankets are jealous of the way they fold. LA Clippers fans feel sorry for TFC’s faithful.
So, yeah, last minute gut checks to rip a point out of thin air are a little rare – particularly coming against the top team in the league.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]We must be careful not to read too much into it. It was one game. Alan Gordon was pumped up to play his former team. The club is still on pace for less than 30 points. All of that is true. Still, though, in this season of blandness (it’s not even frustration at this point, really) it was nice to have something happen that made you feel alive (or, more to the point, convinced you the guys in red were alive).
The truly crazy thing about the result is that Toronto deserved it. Actually, they might have deserved more seeing that LA’s first goal came on a play that started with the ball a foot out of touch and the late go ahead goal came against the run. Look at the stats of the game. TFC was right there with the Galaxy. It was night and day different than last week’s dreadful 0-0 against KC.
And, maybe it did mean something. There is a lot of the season left. It’s not so crazy that TFC could turn it around. This is MLS.
The biggest difference Saturday was the big man up top. For the last month we’ve been talking about how important Gordon is to this team. You can laugh at that – it’s Alan Gordon, the man that Grant Wahl used to illustrate how ordinary most MLS players are in The Beckham Experiment – but the evidence was on full display. With a true target forward and a true MLS grinder up top TFC’s skill players can get more room and produce more.
The brace also illustrates that he has a much better nose for net then pretty much any TFC player since Danny Dichio last limped off the plastic pitch.
This week is massive. Another winnable (or draw-able anyway) road game against New England then a home date against the Sounders. By this time next week the TFC fan’s hope will either be exposed as naive or their (blind?) loyalty justified.
It’s MLS, so don’t pretend like you know which way it’s going to go.