TORONTO — Honestly, who saw this coming?
Two goals by Welshman Robert Earnshaw propelled Toronto FC to a surprising 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday afternoon in the Reds’ home opener before 25,991 fans at Rogers Centre.
Recently signed on loan from Cardiff City, Earnshaw bagged a first-half brace in only his second team appearance, helping TFC end a 15-game winless run and earn its first MLS win since July 18, 2012.
For one day, at least, TFC’s six losing seasons without a single playoff berth were forgotten, and players and fans alike celebrated a win in the home opener as though it was a cup final.
“There’s probably been a few mental scares over the past couple of years (and) to grind out a result like this you needed mental strength and character. The guys showed it in abundance,” Toronto coach Ryan Nelsen told reporters after the game.
Saturday’s contest appeared to be a total mismatch on paper.
Toronto finished in last place in MLS a year ago, while K.C. was first in the Eastern Conference. This season, TFC is a team in rebuild mode (they’ve signed seven new players in the last 10 days), and Sporting is considered one of the favourites to win the MLS Cup. The Reds are a laughing stock, K.C. a model team.
Furthermore, Toronto was without a victory in its last seven games (0-2-5) against Kansas City, including three losses last season, in a winless skid that dated back to April 2009.
Still, Nelsen was quick to quell the celebrations.
“Look, we’re still a long way away from where we want to be,” he cautioned. “We have to take baby steps to become a very good team. This will help in a lot of ways, but we still have a lot of work to do. We need to improve the team, we need to improve everything.”
Nelsen’s emphasis on defensive organization proved the perfect antidote against a dangerous Kansas City team.
With the help of holding midfielders Terry Dunfield and Jeremy Hall, Toronto kept K.C. pinned inside its own half for most of the game. TFC expertly pressured and harried Kansas City high up the field, not allowing them to build from the back and forced turnovers. Oriol Rosell and Graham Zusi, two of K.C.’s more creative midfielders, were neutralized.
It wasn’t a complete success for the Reds, though.
They fell into some old bad habits by dropping back to protect their lead, allowing Kansas City to dominate for the final 20 minutes. But for a lack of finishing, the visitors could have easily earned a draw.
“It naturally kind of happens, especially when you’re up two-nil, that sometimes you sit back on (the lead). They weren’t really breaking us down in open play,” Nelsen explained.
Nelsen made one lineup change from last Saturday’s season opening loss in Vancouver, replacing rookie midfielder Kyle Bekker (coming off the flu) with English midfielder John Bostock.
Signing on loan from Tottenham on Friday, Bostock impressed with his hard work, deft touch and probing runs for Toronto.
It took TFC only three minutes to open the scoring, the goal coming as a result of some effective pressing deep inside K.C.’s half. Hogan Ephraim (another TFC newcomer) forced Matt Besler to make a haphazard back-pass and Earnshaw anticipated the play by intercepting the ball before cooly slotting it home.
“We worked on closing them down quickly and we got (an early) goal from it,” Earnshaw said.
Toronto doubled its advantage in the 21st minute when Bostock drew a foul inside the box after some fancy footwork in a very tight space and Earnshaw converted the ensuing penalty kick.
“That’s part of my game: quick feet and trying to beat players. I got the ball in a good position and I tried to maneuver my way with a couple of step-overs. I couldn’t get the shot off so I just took on the defender and he went for it,” Bostock said.
TFC’s defenders began to drop back at the start of the second half, inviting Kansas City to attack them. Sporting slowly began to take control of the game and almost nicked a goal in the 61st minute when substitute C. J. Sapong connected on a powerful header, forcing a great save by goalkeeper Joe Bendik.
Deprived of service all game, Claudio Bieler latched onto a headed flick by Sapong and then drilled a shot inside the box by Bendik to pull Kansas City within a goal with 13 minutes left.
Countless times over the last few years, the Reds have turned wins into ties and ties into losses by conceding goals in the final 15 minutes. This time they held on, but just barely.
“I’m kind of glad it went to 2-1 instead of a 2-nil win. It showed that they broke through a bit of adversity,” Nelsen said.
NOTES: Toronto FC honoured former captain Torsten Frings, who retired two weeks ago, in a special pre-game ceremony… TFC was missing three players through injury: midfielders Julio Cesar (calf strain) and Luis Silva (hamstring), and forward Justin Braun (concussion). Starting goalkeeper Stefan Frei (recovering from a broken nose) served as Bendik’s backup… This is the first of three meetings this season between TFC and Sporting. They’ll play again on July 13 (in Kansas City) and Sept. 21 (in Toronto)… TFC returns to action next week in Montreal against the Impact, and then plays its first home game at BMO Field on March 30 versus the LA Galaxy.
