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After a great team effort it's difficult to single out just one moment that contributed to Toronto's 2-0 victory. Stefan Frei for instance, made tremendous stops when it was scoreless. However, the first goal gave TFC players and supporters the belief that they can run against Seattle.
Chad Barrett was livid with referee Jorge Gonzalez for getting in the way of his 58th minute cross. But the ball fell in the way of Dwayne De Rosario after a Seattle mishap from the ricochet. The captain collected the ball, sized up Kasey Keller's far post and slotted his fifth goal of the season past the keeper, simultaneously renewing faith at BMO Field.
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There were several ongoing battles throughout the match. The most noticeable involved De Rosario and Seattle midfielder Osvaldo Alonso. The two players were visibly agitated with one another, trading fouls and tackles throughout. Animosity traces back to their match-up last April, when Alonso successfully marked De Rosario out of this fixture.
No such success for the Cuban on this occasion. De Rosario not only had his way in creating chances and holding possession, it was Alonso that gifted the ball to the Canadian inside the Seattle box, just before the TFC captain placed it in the visitors' goal to make it 1-0 for Toronto.
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Two individually dominant halves for the heart of Team Canada led to Toronto's success on Sunday in a shared MOTM performance.
In the first half Julian de Guzman put on a skillful display that had Seattle defenders bewildered at times. He set the tone for Toronto's passing game, as the club abandoned the long ball and played it on the ground.
De Rosario took over in the second half, applying constant pressure on Seattle defenders, who had tired legs from playing on Thursday. His goal and assist on O'Brian White's strike maximized the points for TFC.
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Seattle (4-5-1 formation): Kasey Keller, James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Tyrone Marshall, Tyson Wahl, Sanna Nyassi, Osvaldo Alonso, Peter Vagenas, Nathan Sturgis, Brad Evans, Freddie Ljungberg.
Toronto (4-3-3- formation): Stefan Frei, Maxim Usanov, Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann, Raivis Hscanovics, Nick LaBrocca, Martin Saric, Julian de Guzman, O'Brian White, Chad Barrett, Dwayne De Rosario.
Goals: Toronto - De Rosario 58' White 76'
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Wednesday, April 28 v. Montreal
Nutrilite Canadian Championship
8PM (RSN)
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GAME NOTES:
Montreal plays in the temporarily formed USSF D2 Pro League this year after the club bolted out of the United Soccer Leagues at the conclusion of 2009. The Impact won the first Nutrilite Canadian Championship in 2008, but Toronto routed them 6-1 last year in the round robin finale of the domestic cup tournament to take that title for 2009. The Impact are heavily rumoured to be joining Major League Soccer in the near future. While that still remains uncertain, the club with former TFC players Adam Braz, Tyler Hemming and Srdjan Djekanovic will look to give Toronto a tough match on Wednesday.
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11-5
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Seattle outshot Toronto.
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4-3
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Sounders held a slight margin for shots on goal, but Stefan Frei made incredible stops to thwart Seattle.
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20
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Number of total fouls - TFC with 13
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7-5
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Seattle held the edge on corner kicks.
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2
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Toronto has won their first two home matches. They first did this in 2008.
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"We were pretty decent. (At) moments I could see the best football we've played so far this year ... Stefan (Frei) made one or two important saves to keep us in." - Preki on team performance and Frei's heroics to keep Toronto in the match.
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"I felt a lot more confident this game, I think everyone (did) ... Coming off an unfortunate result against Colorado, apart from the little mistakes, everyone did a good job." - Julian de Guzman on the team coming together in training. |
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"A team like (Seattle) is going to get chances. That's when you need your keeper and defence to come up big. They did." - Dwayne De Rosario on the defenders and keeper keeping Toronto competitive before he took his chances.
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