Toronto FC End Season With Big Win
It has been a long season for Toronto FC, but in Sunday’s finale weekend in the MLS, they finally came alive, by beating Atlanta United 4-1. This result meant that the away side were not able to hoist the Supporters Shield at the BMO Field.
Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney said: “It doesn’t make up for the season we had but the effort and the execution on the day was very good against a good team. We move into an off-season where we have some time to really get ourselves for a new season and take all the lessons we took from this year to prepare ourselves for next year.”
Lucas Jansson scored twice for the home side, with Sebastian Giovinco adding another goal and assist. This was the TFC’s tenth win of the regular season, but their six defeats and 18 draws are the reason that they failed to qualify for the play-offs.
Marky Delgado added the fourth goal for the home side, in front of a home crowd of 23,895 for Fan Appreciation Day.
Josef Martinez extended his league-record scoring total to 31 as he scored the lone Atlanta goal in the game. His 77th minute penalty made thing tense for the home side, as it cut the score to 2-1. However, that barrier was soon increased in the last 10 minutes thanks to the goals from Jansson and Giovinco.
Giovinco’s season hasn’t been as prolific as last season, he has only scored 13 league goals this campaign, with a further 15 assists. He attempted five shots against Atlanta, setting the league high of 167 shots at goal for the season.
Atlanta’s loss, meant that New York Red Bulls narrow victory over Orlando was enough to win the regular season title. Players were not afraid to hide their disappointment, with experienced goalkeeper, Brad Guzan saying: “Disappointing, shocking. We never got started. We were poor everywhere. A terrible performance from us in a big game.”
The Supporters Shield Trophy was Toronto’s last season, and this seasons champions, New York Red Bulls will pick up $130,000 in prize money for their achievement.
This was a great result for the home side, especially when you consider that they were without Jozy Altidore and playmaker Victor Vazquez who were out with ankle and knee problems respectively.
Fans of Toronto FC would point towards the injury of defensive warrior Drew Moor, as a reason for not making the play-offs this season. He has been out for the majority of the season.
However, fans will be surely happy to see the end of this campaign- the worst since 2013. Losing four of their five first league games this season, to concentrate on the Champions League left Toronto in a bad position, they were never really able to bounce back from this.
Sundays fixture against Atlanta was the last to be played on the grass surface at the BMO Field , which will be replaced over the course of the off-season.
The TFC were playing in their home jersey for the final time. The red melange fiber combined with the dark grey sleeves and details give this jersey, a strong and casual look at the same time. The city of Toronto lives and breathes by the words ‘all for one’ and this is evident on the top of the back on the jersey.
Peace,
Burke
