(I had a dream last night. Toronto FC fans entering Crew Stadium in Columbus were ordered to take their shoes and socks off, leave them in a big pile on the concourse, and watch the game barefoot. Discuss among yourselves.)
So, maybe Toronto FC got a little bit too excited about its rebuilt attack.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
With big, forceful Canada target man Ali Gerba finally wearing the red number-10 shirt, and a team-wide willingness to keep the ball moving on the carpet, the Redcoats looked really dangerous at times.
Sure, they were a goal down early, but all it took was a surging run from Marvell Wynne and a cheeky little Pablo Vitti redirect to set up a charging Duane DeRosario for an emphatic tying goal.
Then, later, the ever-embattled Chad Barrett intercepted a dreadful Columbus clearance, and worked an utterly splendid double give-and-go with Gerba, which the brute finisher buried in-close to howitzer Toronto into the lead.
And then Vitti – yeah, I’ve been down on the kid, but this was gorgeous – made good, patient space for himself, and rocketed a curving outswinger straight off the far Columbus post. So close the 3-1!
But …
It would not be TFC’s attack that would ultimately sign their names on this one.
First, Marco Velez guessed wrong and tied himself into useless knots – again – as he watched hot young Crew finisher Steven Lenhart knot the match 2-2 on 76 minutes.
Bad, but a draw would still be a decent enough result. So how, then, with all eleven Torontos collapsed back to defend, did no one even bother Columbus’s Frankie Hejduk as he sent in a perfect long cross in injury time? And why was no one even close to the in-form Jason Garey, as he rose to bull home a splendid header past helpless goalie Stefan Frei to win the match right at the death?
I say again what I said at the beginning: Toronto FC is going to play some high-scoring matches this year. They almost need to score three or more goals a game – because you know they’re a good bet to give up at least two.
Hey, this was a very entertaining little game. And for long stretches of it, Toronto was dictating terms. Yes, they’d already earned a pair of 1-1 draws with the defending league-champion Crew this year, but Columbus dominated those matches, and had to feel unlucky not to have taken maximum points from both.
This loss is really going to hurt down the road. A win would have leapt the Reds into a first-place tie with Chicago in the MLS East. The loss leaves them dangerously vulnerable to chase teams Kansas City and New England. New England managed to win at league-best Houston yesterday, which is going to get the rest of the league’s attention.
Great to see Gerba score on his debut. Wonderful to see both Barrett and Vitti again respond positively and creatively to the pressure their ongoing employment is under.
But it means nothing divided by squat if the team can’t seal the deal.
As good as Columbus is – even without injured MLS scoring leader Guillermo Barros Schelotto – this was a very sealable deal. It was all there for the Reds – big win on the road, knock off the champs, win the stupid Trillium Cup, clinch the season series against a very tough team, move back into first place.
Instead, they’re sitting cold and exposed on the playoff back porch, and hungrier wolves are circling around out there, getting the job done.
Yikes!
Get ready for some serious defensive drill work in practice this week, lads. You freaking earned it!
Onward!