I was at the game. I know. I'm surprised too.
Sure I haven't made a home game in the last few (moving, parties, travelling) but I can squeeze in a road game. Of course. Duh.
Anyways.
This personal vacation has had one theme running through so far : blindingly stupid humidity. Seriously. The car thermometer read 41C when we left Virginia this morning! So dumb.
Instead of getting seats in the supporters section (when the ticket monkey for PPL Park was asked about "away" seats, he had no clue), I was sitting "comfortably" at section 123. In the sun. I'm fair skinned. I baked.
Without going after the played out "new look Toronto FC" bullsh*t every time Mo signs a"Brazilian", Gambian, Brazilian, they do have some new talent that requires that real game experience. Philadelphia is [REMEMBER TO CUT AND PASTE WHAT THE MATCH PREVIEW SAID HERE].
Starting lineup (I was bored at the beginning of the game) :
Sure I haven't made a home game in the last few (moving, parties, travelling) but I can squeeze in a road game. Of course. Duh.
Anyways.
This personal vacation has had one theme running through so far : blindingly stupid humidity. Seriously. The car thermometer read 41C when we left Virginia this morning! So dumb.
Instead of getting seats in the supporters section (when the ticket monkey for PPL Park was asked about "away" seats, he had no clue), I was sitting "comfortably" at section 123. In the sun. I'm fair skinned. I baked.
Without going after the played out "new look Toronto FC" bullsh*t every time Mo signs a
Starting lineup (I was bored at the beginning of the game) :
Chad - DeRo
Ibby - deGoo - Labrocca - Sanyang
Garcia *shudder* - Cann - Attakora - Gargan
Frei
7' - Sons of Ben impress me by doing a rendition of Man na mah na (it'd have been youtube, but lawyers got in the way of fun... again)
11' - Frei nearly gives up a perfect ball to Sebastien Le Toux. Like he needs the help.
14' - Orozco Fiscal, a defender, is going to give some left back a very difficult time tonight. Really makes me miss Marshall. He's just aching to do a run into the box...
15' - The Chad just whistles a ball past the top left corner.
16' - Only in America... a stoppage of play due to balloons. I suppose there's a precedent for it... I must admit it was amusing seeing both teams huddled in front of their benches waiting for the orange slices to come out.
25' - Gargan with another crap back pass and someone is going to catch him on it and cost us a goal.
28' - YELLOW - Gargan for a late challenge. Ugh.
30' - Impressive ambitious football from Philadelphia. A quick clear from Seitz that travels 2/3rds of the pitch onto the path of Moreno who crosses it to Mwanga only to have Labrocca head it out. It was so fast, it woke people up.
35' - Freekick 20 yds out and DeRo manages to find the midpoint between the stadium and the river.
42' - Cann bails TFC out twice with some great concentration and awareness with some great passing and reading of situations where ball traffic was around him and prevented the ball from getting through. Great stuff.
11' - Frei nearly gives up a perfect ball to Sebastien Le Toux. Like he needs the help.
14' - Orozco Fiscal, a defender, is going to give some left back a very difficult time tonight. Really makes me miss Marshall. He's just aching to do a run into the box...
15' - The Chad just whistles a ball past the top left corner.
16' - Only in America... a stoppage of play due to balloons. I suppose there's a precedent for it... I must admit it was amusing seeing both teams huddled in front of their benches waiting for the orange slices to come out.
25' - Gargan with another crap back pass and someone is going to catch him on it and cost us a goal.
28' - YELLOW - Gargan for a late challenge. Ugh.
30' - Impressive ambitious football from Philadelphia. A quick clear from Seitz that travels 2/3rds of the pitch onto the path of Moreno who crosses it to Mwanga only to have Labrocca head it out. It was so fast, it woke people up.
35' - Freekick 20 yds out and DeRo manages to find the midpoint between the stadium and the river.
42' - Cann bails TFC out twice with some great concentration and awareness with some great passing and reading of situations where ball traffic was around him and prevented the ball from getting through. Great stuff.
2 Minutes of Extra Time
45 + 2' - Holy sh*t! Someone on Philly walked the ball into the 6 yard box, and three attempts and blocks left the ball wide open and someone on Philly HIT THE POST. The most remarkable thing about this wasn't that Garcia's fault.
Half-Time Mood : Damn I'm sweating. Game not good enough to melt in this weather.
50' - The Chad lays a really cute ball around 2 defenders to Labrocca who's cross ends up in the hands of Seitz.
56' - Sons of Ben are paying attention! A Union player goes down in the box and a huge "battle cry for blood" appeal goes up for a penalty. Frightening.
57' - I'm on TV apparently.
58' - Garcia didn't screw up again! After tons of Philly pressure, Garcia held his ground and cleared the ball.
61' - GOAL - Orozco Fiscal bagged it. I totally called it. It was at the other end of the park and apparently PPL Park doesn't believe in replays...
63' - SUB - Ibby out, Santos in.
72' - SUB - Labrocca out, Vanilla Peterson in. It's really not that exciting.
75' - Toronto corner sees Santos' first meaningful touch and his header goes well wide of the net.
81' - DeRo threads a pretty ball through to the Chad only to have it cleared away after his first touch. We need to see more of this.
82' - GOAL - Gargan's throw in reaches the middle of the penalty area and The Chad gets up to head the ball into the far left of the net. To celebrate, he does the classic "how you like me now" pose. Brilliant.
85' - SUB - Gargan out, Usanov in. If someone doesn't get punched, this trip is a bust.
89' - Migliorazni slams a ball from 25 yrds out that tragically ends up right in Frei's hands.
Announced attendance : 17,251. Real difficult to get tickets, huh?
Half-Time Mood : Damn I'm sweating. Game not good enough to melt in this weather.
50' - The Chad lays a really cute ball around 2 defenders to Labrocca who's cross ends up in the hands of Seitz.
56' - Sons of Ben are paying attention! A Union player goes down in the box and a huge "battle cry for blood" appeal goes up for a penalty. Frightening.
57' - I'm on TV apparently.
58' - Garcia didn't screw up again! After tons of Philly pressure, Garcia held his ground and cleared the ball.
61' - GOAL - Orozco Fiscal bagged it. I totally called it. It was at the other end of the park and apparently PPL Park doesn't believe in replays...
63' - SUB - Ibby out, Santos in.
72' - SUB - Labrocca out, Vanilla Peterson in. It's really not that exciting.
75' - Toronto corner sees Santos' first meaningful touch and his header goes well wide of the net.
81' - DeRo threads a pretty ball through to the Chad only to have it cleared away after his first touch. We need to see more of this.
82' - GOAL - Gargan's throw in reaches the middle of the penalty area and The Chad gets up to head the ball into the far left of the net. To celebrate, he does the classic "how you like me now" pose. Brilliant.
85' - SUB - Gargan out, Usanov in. If someone doesn't get punched, this trip is a bust.
89' - Migliorazni slams a ball from 25 yrds out that tragically ends up right in Frei's hands.
Announced attendance : 17,251. Real difficult to get tickets, huh?
4 minutes of extra time
90' - Garcia goes down in a heap and gets taken off the field.
90+3' - PENALTY - Seriously, something happened. Couldn't see it because I was at the other end of the ground. I almost want to declare shenanigans... almost, but PPL Park doesn't do replays...
90+4' - GOAL - Le Toux sends Frei the wrong way. Le Sigh.
FULL TIME : Philadelphia 2, Toronto 1
Man of the Match : I know... this goes against every fibre of my being... but... Nick Garcia. Now before you unsubscribe/send hatemail/commit a hate crime, allow me to explain. Nick usually plays at a rating of about 2, possibly a 1.5 every game. He was a solid 6, maybe a 7. Cann had a solid game. The Chad scored a wonderful bit. But a "decent" Nick Garcia performance happens maybe once a generation. I needed to point that out tonight.
Goat of the Game : Gargan was heading that way. Bad clearances, bad tackling, but he was subbed out before it became a real problem.
Ref rating : 3 out of 5. It may get lower if I actually could see what happened in the fracas that led to the last gasp injury time penalty.
90+3' - PENALTY - Seriously, something happened. Couldn't see it because I was at the other end of the ground. I almost want to declare shenanigans... almost, but PPL Park doesn't do replays...
90+4' - GOAL - Le Toux sends Frei the wrong way. Le Sigh.
FULL TIME : Philadelphia 2, Toronto 1
Man of the Match : I know... this goes against every fibre of my being... but... Nick Garcia. Now before you unsubscribe/send hatemail/commit a hate crime, allow me to explain. Nick usually plays at a rating of about 2, possibly a 1.5 every game. He was a solid 6, maybe a 7. Cann had a solid game. The Chad scored a wonderful bit. But a "decent" Nick Garcia performance happens maybe once a generation. I needed to point that out tonight.
Goat of the Game : Gargan was heading that way. Bad clearances, bad tackling, but he was subbed out before it became a real problem.
Ref rating : 3 out of 5. It may get lower if I actually could see what happened in the fracas that led to the last gasp injury time penalty.
PPL Park is brilliant. They thought everything through. Supporters section that has their own entrance. Roofs on two sides. Plenty of parking. And this...
Dear TFC/MLSE,
How difficult is something like this EVERY GAME? Really? This isn't that complex. The league is littered with nobodies (apologies to 98% of the league rosters) and it would be nice to know who the hell is playing left back on the opposition. This is full colour, card-stock, glossy. I just want a damn xerox.
Regards,
The Yorkies.
Below are a few pics I snapped of the new ground.
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A poor performance and didn't deserve much out of it. Thought he had stolen a road point late on but the double handball was certainly a penalty and they duly converted. The defense was a bit shaky today but I guess we can't complain too much for it's been the only unit that has been consistent in recent weeks.
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