TORONTO—What started out as a disastrous day for Toronto FC ended with the Reds taking a giant leap towards clinching their first ever playoff berth.
Sebastian Giovinco collected two assists in a record-breaking performance, and Jozy Altidore netted the winner in the 79th minute to lift TFC to a come-from-behind and much-needed 3-2 win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday afternoon.
A wild match played out before 22,513 fans at BMO Field saw three lead changes, stupendous individual plays by Giovinco and captain Michael Bradley, and a former TFC star twice burning his old club. With the win, TFC improved to 13-13-4 on the Major League Soccer campaign and solidified its hold on fifth place in the Eastern Conference (the top six make the playoffs) with four games remaining.
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Montreal and Orlando were within two points of TFC at the start of the day, and with the Impact in action later on Saturday this was a game the Reds had to win—especially against a last-place Fire side that has now lost five in a row and is winless in its last 24 road contests.
TFC was without a victory in its 12 previous encounters against Chicago (with six losses), and had not defeated the Fire since earning a 4-1 decision on May 8, 2010 at home.
“Three points. I’m not interested in the perception of what the game should have been like. Three points,” Bradley deadpanned.
Bradley can downplay it all he wants, but Toronto made far too much work of dispatching the Fire. Still, credit must be given because this was the type of game that the Reds made a habit of losing so often in past years and earlier this season. It was encouraging to see them show some character and backbone, and come back from a goal down on two occasions to earn a victory after conceding in the first minute.
“We were able to stick with it, which is something that at times we haven’t done over the course of the year—we get over-anxious and throw a lot of things forward trying to get back into it. … Even though we got down twice, we stuck with it and over time we got a result,” TFC coach Greg Vanney offered.
Vanney called Saturday “one of our biggest wins of the year.”
“It’s not easy (to come back twice) in this league. To come away and get three points… to actually get a (win) out of it doesn’t happen very often,” Vanney said.
He later added: “You have to know that you can come from behind at this time of the year as you approach the playoffs, because that character and that confidence is critical.”
The win has TFC on the brink of clinching a playoff spot for the first time in franchise history after eight fruitless years. It’s only unfortunate that they’re now being overshadowed by the success of the Major League Baseball’s Blue Jays.
“Hopefully there’s room for both of us because I think we can build off of each other and make a really exciting time in October and November for the city of Toronto,” Vanney stated.
Vanney didn’t make any lineup changes from last week’s win, even with Brazilian right fullback Jackson fit again.
Two moments—one of madness, the other of genius—defined TFC’s opening half.
A sloppy giveaway by Altidore in the centre of the pitch allowed Chicago to break forward with pace. Patrick Nyarko threaded a pass between two defenders for Gilberto to run onto, and the ex-TFC forward hit a low shot that went through goalkeeper Chris Konopka. Chicago was up 1-0 after only 40 seconds.
Toronto equalized after 29 minutes on a magical play by Giovinco. The Italian chipped a ball with the outside of his foot from a very acute angle from just outside the box that majestically curled in the air and snuck inside the far post. At first Giovinco was credited with the goal but it was eventually awarded to teammate Jonathan Osorio—replays showed the Canadian connected on a glancing header before it crossed the goal-line.
Vanney wasn’t sure if Giovinco meant it as a cross or a shot on net, and we might never know. In the locker-room after the game Giovinco was visibly upset that the goal was taken away from him, and he even showed a video of the play on his phone to Altidore, asking his teammate, “Where did it change direction (off Osorio)?” The Italian was so perturbed that he declined to speak to reporters.
Osorio was diplomatic when asked directly (twice!) if he got a touch on Giovinco’s attempt.
“I hope that MLS goes back and reviews it and gives it to Giovinco because he deserves (it),” Osorio coyly responded.
Another defensive error allowed Chicago to regain the lead in the 52nd minute when Bradley over-committed in trying to dispossess Nyarko. The Chicago speedster fought off TFC’s captain by turning out of the challenge and started a pretty passing play that saw Mike Magee feed Gilberto. From there the streaking Brazilian coolly finished.
Bradley atoned seven minutes later, going on a marvelous run through traffic straight down the middle, and then displaying some fancy footwork inside the penalty area. He showed great patience before striking a shot that took a slight deflection and eluded goalkeeper Jon Busch. Really, it was a fabulous individual effort by the TFC captain.
With his second assist of the game Giovinco broke the MLS record for combined goals and assists in a season with 35 (19 goals, 16 assists). Chris Wondolowski held the previous mark of 34 (27 goals, seven assists) for San Jose in 2012.
“He’s one of, if not the best player to ever play in the league,” Vanney said.
The seesaw nature of the contest continued when Altidore bundled an attempt past Bush off a corner kick to give TFC the lead with 11 minutes left in regulation.
NOTES: This was the second and final match this season between these clubs—the Fire earned a 3-2 home win on April 4… Chicago leads the all-time MLS series against Toronto with nine wins and eight draws in 21 meetings… TFC returns to action next Saturday when they host the Philadelphia Union.
