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This is one that Toronto's highly touted midfielder, Julian de Guzman will want to put behind him quickly. He was the weak link on a defensive wall that Preki later said was not organized the way they practiced. The wall broke down, allowing a Jeff Larentowicz free kick to curl in past Stefan Frei to give Colorado a 2-1 lead at the 71st minute.
Toronto had just gone level 13 minutes earlier and were looking likely to earn their first point away from home in 2010. However, de Guzman jumped to the wrong side, deceived by the bend on Larentowicz's shot, leaving a hole in the wall that was exploited for the goal.
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It was up to the Toronto centre back duo of Nana Attakora and Adrian Cann to keep Colorado's strikeforce of Conor Casey and Omar Cummings quiet. While Attakora in particular had a good game, intercepting several passes intended for both forwards, the edge in this battle belonged to the Rapids.
A questionable handball call against Cann in the first half (replay shows the ball hitting his head), allowed Casey to convert the first of his two penalty kicks. While Cummings was kept off the score sheet, he provided a dangerous presence to the Toronto backline all afternoon.
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Casey was a constant threat for 90+ minutes even if he didn't score from open play. The forward tracked back, provided effective hold-up play and as naturally intended, was Colorado's big target man in the opposition third, leading to Casey earning a penalty at the 83rd minute.
Last season Casey scored 16 goals, he has three in the early going this year, including the brace notched against Toronto. His size betrays his versatility at first glance, but Casey showed he is a good distributor of the ball as well. He forced the best out of Attakora as a defender but Toronto as a team couldn't cope with his presence on Sunday.
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 Colorado (4-4-2 formation): Matt Pickens, Kosuke Kimura, Marvell Wynne, Drew Moor, Danny Earls, Jeff Larentowicz, Pablo Mastroeni, Jamie Smith, Colin Clark, Omar Cummings, Conor Casey.
Toronto (4-4-2 formation): Stefan Frei, Maxim Usanov, Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann, Ty Harden, Sam Cronin, Julian de Guzman, Martin Saric, Nick LaBrocca, Chad Barrett, Dwayne De Rosario.
Goals:
COL: Casey 24' (PK), 85' (PK), Larentowicz 71'
TOR: De Rosario 58' (PK)
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Sunday, April 25 v. Seattle
2PM (CBC, FAN590)
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GAME NOTES:
Seattle notched their second win of the season on Saturday night with a goal from an unlikely hero. Harvard graduate Michael Fucito latched on to the end of a 93rd minute throw-in and blasted Seattle to a 1-0 home win over Kansas City. Prior to that victory, Seattle drew away to Salt Lake and lost at home to New York after opening the season with a 2-0 win over Philadelphia. Reports have Seattle's coveted striker Fredy Montero linked to big money club, CSKA Moscow, in Russia. Will next Sunday be the Colombian striker's last trip to BMO Field?
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14-4
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Colorado dominated Toronto in shots.
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9-1
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An ugly margin separated the clubs for shots on goal as well.
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12
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Both teams committed the same number of fouls.
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3
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Conor Casey became the third all-time leading goal scorer for Colorado.
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3L
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Toronto's record on the road to start the 2010 season (outscored 9-2).
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"The wall, the way we set up the wall, the way we talk about the wall. People who were in the wall shouldn't have been. We gave up a silly goal" - Preki on the defensive wall breakdown on the second Colorado goal.
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"I don't think so. Cummings was coming at me, I went down, the ball hit off my chest, my arm was stretched out but it hit my head ... it wasn't a penalty shot." - Adrian Cann on the penalty call that gave Colorado the 1-0 lead. |
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"It was there for us for sure. Tough game for us. We had enough chances to win. We gave up three soft goals." - Sam Cronin with his thoughts on the game.
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