Columbus Crew 2-Toronto FC 0
By Luis Martinez ( Twitter @canadaluis)
Photos by David Chant ( Instagram ) and Michael Fayehun
Toronto, ON – Bad way to open the season for TFC at BMO Field this afternoon.
On this sunny Saturday afternoon in early March, Toronto FC had their official home opener of this 2018 MLS season, facing the Crew of Colombus, whom we all remember were eliminated by the Reds at the Eastern Conference final last November.
At the beginning of this match, Columbus Crew went with all his arsenal on attack the arc of Alex Bono.
The midfield was dominated by Crew almost all the first time. Gyasi Zardes was converted into a nightmare for Michael Bradley and company.
Unfortunately for TFC, the Argentinian, Federico Higuaín scores for Columbus at 44′ leaving without any opportunity to react by The goalkeeper of Toronto. It was a great play initiated by Artur onto Valenzuela who provided the definitive pass to his fellow countryman.
Missing passes and being overpowered in velocity, TFC went to the break with the score against them.
The surprise for the Vanney boys comes in the first minute of the second half, Zardes put the 2nd goal for the visiting team.
The Man of New Jersey, Jozy Altidore didn’t participate in the match like we are accustomed to. Even Victor Vazquez went to the bench at 53′, opening the opportunity to the Brazilian, Auro Jr.
Slowly, slowly, the line of attack from the Reds advanced on the turf of the team leadered by Greg Berhalter looking to discount on the door of Zack Steffen.
In this encounter, Sebastian Giovinco was running everywhere, without success, the changes made from Greg Vanney were enough to transform the difficult situation.
Recuperating balls and counterattacking, Columbus Crew knews how to contain the numbers until the end.
So, although, the fact of being home should have put TFC at an advantage, the outcome is that the Crew came to play to win and that is exactly what they got.
Colombus gained their first three points with 2 goals in their pocket.
Next match for TFC is against the Liga MX 2017 Champions, Tigres, in the first leg of the quarter finals of the Concacaf Champions League, this Wednesday, March 7.
Match statistics
Lineups:
TFC – Bono, van der Wiel, Mavinga, Zavaleta, Morrow, Aketxe (Hasler), Bradley, Osorio (Delgado), Vazquez (Auro), Altidore, Giovinco
Crew – Steffen, Valenzuela, Abubakar, Jonathan, Afful, Artur, Trapp, Santos (Argudo), Martinez, Higuain (Crognale), Zardes
Shots: TFC 13 and Crew 12
Shots on target: TFC 2 and Crew 4
Possession: TFC 58% and Crew 42%
Fouls: TFC 10 and Crew 8
Yellow cards: TFC 0 and Crew 1
Offsides: TFC 3 and Crew 6
Corners: TFC 6 and Crew 5
Columbus Crew
Toronto FC
