With two of the league’s hottest imports in David Villa and Sebastian Giovinco squaring off on Sunday, it was always destined to be a dull affair. While ironically ending in a draw, the match, and its two stars, delivered a riveting back and forth slugfest that ended with four goals apiece.
NYCFC, after being brought back down to earth by their neighbors across the Hudson a couple weeks ago, regained their form with a 2-1 road win against lowly Montreal. David Villa scored a brace in that game, and was looking to continue his great form at home against Toronto.
On the other side of the ring was Giovinco and a Toronto team coming off a 4th of July, 4-0 spanking from the LA Galaxy. Additionally, Toronto had a bit of vengeance on their mind, as it was less than a month ago that NYCFC came in and quite literally knocked them around their own park to steal three points.
The key to that previous match-up between NYCFC and Toronto had been NYCFC’s physical play and high pressure from the midfield, which disrupted any rhythm TFC tried to establish and limited Giovinco’s impact. However, with Mix out on national team duty, Kreis changed his midfield diamond into a more traditional 4-4-2, partnering Ned Grabavoy along with Jacobson in the midfield, and the result was a much more open midfield and much more space for Giovinco in particular.
Before Giovinco made his mark, it was David Villa who landed the first punch. With a free kick near the corner of the penalty box in the 16th minute, David Villa curled in a fantastic free kick inside the near post. Though Toronto’s keeper, Konopka, read the kick well and even got two diving fists on the ball, it wasn’t enough to keep the ball out, and should not take away from an otherwise fantastic display of skill by Villa.
Minutes later, NYC’s Mehdi Ballouchy somewhat easily dragged down Toronto’s Cheyrou in the box, giving Toronto FC a penalty and a chance for an immediate reply. However, Giovinco’s penalty smacked off the left post, to the cheers of the Third Rail supporters group behind the goal.
About 10 minutes later, referee, Ted Unkel, called another penalty kick, this time for NYCFC. With Thomas McNamara charging into the box, Ballouchy found him with a neat scoop over the crowd of defenders, before Toronto’s Perquis came bundling into McNamara’s back side and knocking him to the grass.
Like Giovinco before him, David Villa’s penalty was denied as well, albeit by the outstretched arm of Konopka. However, Patrick Mullins showed great awareness and determination to race ahead of the defenders to the loose ball and fire in a shot from a tight angle. The shot cruelly deflected of a Toronto defender and snuck inside Konopka’s near post for NYCFC’s second goal of the day.
It was turning into another solid win for NYCFC after their second goal, but that lasted less than 10 minutes. In the 32nd minute, NYC’s Watson-Siriboe made a clumsy challenge on Toronto’s Daniel Lovitz, just inside the left edge of the penalty box, resulting in the game’s third penalty, and a chance at redemption for Giovinco. Toronto FC’s number ten showed the confidence to go back to the left post, this time making no mistake.
Shortly after, Giovinco struck again. With Facey sucked into the midfield, Giovinco took advantage of the space in the backline, making a great run behind Siriboe. Toronto’s Jackson delivered a terrific flick to put Giovinco through on goal, and the little Italian never looked like missing. With the recovering Facey bearing down on him, Giovinco lashed his strike across Saunders into the far netting to level the game.
Just a few minutes later, and within nine minutes of his first goal, Giovinco completed his hat trick. While it was some truly awful defending that left Giovinco all alone in the center of the attacking third to receive a cross, the way he used the pace of the cross to hit his foot like a divot and spiral over the helpless Saunders was all class.
NYCFC recovered at halftime from Giovinco’s 3 goal haymaker to come out on the offensive when play restarted. David Villa showed some veteran guile in the 61st minute to bait Konopka into diving for a loose ball before Villa snuck a touch in at the last second to draw the games fourth penalty. Villa stepped up struck the his penalty hard into the same corner Giovinco had in the previous half, as the pendulum of momentum swung back to the home side.
It seemed Giovinco would land the knockout punch when, in the 81st minute, the early season fore-most valuable player stripped the ball off of NYC’s right-back debutante, Iraola, made a run down the left side of the penalty area, bursting past Wingert to the end line, before finally cutting the ball back to Marco Delgado on the near post for an easy tap in. Saunders was understandably furious with the way his defense let Giovinco cut through them all, pounding the grass with his gloves.
Yet, there was one more punch to land, and it would again be courtesy of Patrick Mullins capitalizing on a failed clearance. In the 83rd minute, an NYCFC free kick served to the far post found the feet of Toronto FC’s recent sub, Warren Creavalle, who inexplicably attempted to clear the ball back into the goal mouth. Mullins, whose first goal came from a failed clearance in the first half, again took advantage of the TFC defense’s mistake, heading home the loose ball and rescuing one of the wildest points earned in recent MLS history.
There were a few chances for both teams to find a winning goal in the last ten minutes of the game, with both Giovinco and Villa in particular coming close.
In the end of the this wild affair, both teams displayed their impressive attacking prowess, as well as their defensive frailties, and a point a piece was likely well deserved.
Though this astonishing game will be hard to top, these two teams will face each other one last time in the penultimate game of the season, with the added twist of a potential playoff race an added dynamic to what seems to be a young, budding rivalry.
In the more immediate future, Toronto FC takes on the Philadelphia Union, while NYCFC travels up to Foxborough to take on the struggling New England Revolution.
