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TFC vs. Aston Villa (R)


Gian-Luca

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Final score 4-2 in favour of Aston Villa, a scoreline which flattered them as the final goal was knee deep into injury time & the go ahead marker only about 10 minutes before. In addition TFC had a perfectly legit goal in the first half disallowed for offside. They also had a second goal disallowed for offside in the 2nd half (which Lombardo scored) but that one was correctly disallowed. Lombardo would end up scoring a few moments later to even the match up at 2-0 (TFC were down 2-0 at the half) and demonstrated here that he's much better with the ball at his feet (both balls he put in including the disallowed one) were accurate shots quickly taken with his feet than he in the air, which is where all of his missed chances against Congo fell to, unforunately.

TFC started David Monsalve in goal & he could only really be faulted on the second goal as it came on a rebound that he spilt. As I didn't recognize him during the game I had assumed it was one of the emergency MLS keepers they were playing in goal & I was puzzled as to why he was being played over Djekanovic, especially as he looked like a very inexperienced keeper. Of course after the game I found that he was in fact an extremely inexperienced keeper, but I credit Mo for putting him in there to get him some experience. While he was weak on the crosses & not really dominant in the box, he did make some nice saves.

We also got to see 17-year old young Canuck Joey Melo for about 20 minutes and he looked quite comfortable on the ball & composed out there. Have to figure he will be a key player for the 2009 U20 team.

Villa started their full team, though Sorenson got injured about halfway through the first half. They brought on some subs in the 2nd half, as did TFC.

All in all this was a very entertaining game, it was complete attacking soccer the whole game, very direct (but not long-ball), lots of goals, chances & exciting, and at a quicker pace than your typical MLS game (which was due in part to Villa but also the perfect evening weather). A great shame that his wasn't on tv in Canada as it would have been a great game for casual fans who have yet to see a game to check out.

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quote:Originally posted by jasonm

was it a full house and was this game part of the season tickets?

Yes & Yes, though there were a few empty seats on the east side of the stadium they may have all been the usual suspects who stay in the beer garden behind the north goal the whole game.

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It was announced as a sell out at 20137 but we had some empty seats in our section the whole game. When the game started I'd say it was only 50% full. I suppose lots of people find a 7:00pm start too early to get here through the downtown traffic.

Oh and it cost our 'C' and 'D' vouchers (ie another double priced game like Benfica).

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quote:Originally posted by Rocket Robin

It was announced as a sell out at 20137 but we had some empty seats in our section the whole game. When the game started I'd say it was only 50% full. I suppose lots of people find a 7:00pm start too early to get here through the downtown traffic.

That's always the case with the 7pm start time, people continue to file in all throughout the first half. I hope they go to 7:30 weeknight starts next season, I mean the Leafs have 7:30 starts & they have the advantage of having a subway stop on their venue's doorstep, unlike BMO Field.

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Incidentally, there are reports on the Usector board that the Fan590 is reporting that Cunningham is out until September and Greg Sutton is out for the season - which of course has national team implications for the two games in August & September. Let's hope Lars answers the call this time.

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It makes no sense starting the match at 19h00. Guess someone doesn't understand that, unlike baseball and hockey, missing the first 30 minutes is significant.

Then again, judging from the empty seats, the 21h00 final whistle seemed to be past most people's bedtime in the town that always sleeps. ;)

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quote:Originally posted by Macksam

Caruw's goal was offside. The linesman on the east side of the field sure as hell screwed us.

Interesting, that's something I honestly didn't notice to the naked eye sitting in the stands. The result is doubly-unfortunate then, though not one I am too beat up about given that it as a friendly & an excellent game to watch.

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Also, the way he was clapping the ball with his other hand together seemed like he was sticking it to the TFC fans. Everyone in the stadium started booing him when he did that. Next time he comes over, I think a good "F*** you Caruw," chant would be ideal.

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quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

That's always the case with the 7pm start time, people continue to file in all throughout the first half. I hope they go to 7:30 weeknight starts next season, I mean the Leafs have 7:30 starts & they have the advantage of having a subway stop on their venue's doorstep, unlike BMO Field.

I arrived at the 23rd minute. 7PM starts in midweek are just impossible to get to on time.

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quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

TFC started David Monsalve in goal & he could only really be faulted on the second goal as it came on a rebound that he spilt.

I thought that he could have come out to get the cross that lead to the winning goal.

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quote:Originally posted by Free kick

I thought that he could have come out to get the cross that lead to the winning goal.

Having now seen the replay, I'm inclined to disagree. In order to cut it out he would have had to have been further out of goal & that would have meant exposing the short side for the player who had the ball to slot into the net. Plus it does look like Carew was offside on the play, and if so it really means that north-side linesman did a number on us giving that he previously disallowed a perfectly on-side goal by Dichio in the first half.

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quote:Originally posted by amacpher

It makes no sense starting the match at 19h00. Guess someone doesn't understand that, unlike baseball and hockey, missing the first 30 minutes is significant.

Then again, judging from the empty seats, the 21h00 final whistle seemed to be past most people's bedtime in the town that always sleeps. ;)

are u a edmonton reject....who are ya!!!!

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There's a good 10 minute hilight package of the game on Fox Sportsworld Canada which is on "Fox Sports Report" repeated almost every hour from now until noon tomorrow. It's on near the end of the show as the 'game of the day'.

Partly makes up for FSWC not showing the game up here.

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Toronto FC 2-4 Aston Villa

Statistical Game Summary, BMO Field, Toronto , ON

Toronto FC - David Monsalve, Jim Brennan, Todd Dunivant, Tyrone Marshall (Andrew Boyens 66), Marvell Wynne, Maurice Edu (Joey Melo 75), Ronnie O’Brien, Carl Robinson, Andy Welsh (Chris Pozniak 63), Collin Samuel, Danny Dichio (Andrea Lombardo 49)

Subs not used: Stephen Lumley, Adam Braz, Marco Reda, Gabe Gala, Nana Attakora-Gyan

Aston Villa - Tomas Sorenson (Stuart Taylor 34), Craig Gardner, Stephen O’Halloran (Nigel Reo-Coker 70), Olaf Mellberg (Wilfred Bouman 46), Gary Cahill, Gareth Berry (Patrik Berger 46), Zoltan Steiber (Gabriel Agbonlahor 69), Ashley Young, Stiliyan Petrov, Luke Moore, Marlon Harewood (John Carew 70)

Scoring Summary:

AST: Luke Moore (Ashley Young) 11’

AST: Luke Moore (Marlon Harewood, Stiliyan Petrov) 18’

TOR: Todd Dunivant (Carl Robinson) 50’

TOR: Andrea Lombardo 62’

AST: John Carew (Gabriel Agbonlahor, Luke Moore) 82’

AST: Luke Moore (Gabriel Agbonlahor) 92

Referee: Silviu Petrescu

Assistants: Amato DeLuca, Mike Lambert

Fourth Official: Steve DePiero

Attendance: 20,147

Weather: Clear, 77 degrees

Time of Game: 1:52

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quote:Originally posted by L.T.

Subs not used: Stephen Lumley, Adam Braz, Marco Reda, Gabe Gala, Nana Attakora-Gyan

Are these two guys going to play again? Considering that this was a friendly, how many subs were allowed (5? 6?). And I see on the MLS salaries thread that Reda is on $100K: doesn't look like TFC is getting much bang for their buck.

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