After last Wednesday's classic against Edmonton where the side scored early and then auto-piloted all the way home, it's hard to get amped for a game with real meaning. Coming off a loss in the league that really put a dent into our Cascadia Cup campaign against Seattle, perhaps home can bring back some focus, stability and a positive talking point beyond the traditional "Frei played well..."1 - Ahhhh... Beautiful weather. Not a cloud in the sky!
11 - deGoo puts one heading towards the top corner but stymied with a great stop by Hall
30 - Nothing terribly noteworthy other than TFC has had a long spell of control which in itself is terribly noteworthy. Its so Matryoshka dolls...
33 - Dynamo is really seeing the theatre skills really pay off with all of the play-acting
36 - Soolsma crosses to Peterson and heads over the bar. Fun stuff
38 - Ref is falling for the acting again... Masterpiece
42 - YELLOW - Williams for catching his man and getting punished for more than a push
44 - Plata can't (or could never) get to the long ball well over his head, or "just over his head" for normal height people.
HALFTIME: TORONTO 0 - HOUSTON 0
46 - Peterson gets free and puts a low shot bottom right stopped by Hall
49 - PENALTY - Soolsma gets his shooting foot taken out from under him in the box. Clear and correct decision
51 - GOAL - Plata converts. Grande Piqueno puts it under the bar so simply. Next time Tchani...
53 - Eckersley sends a pretty low ball across the face of goal, Peterson was there for it but Hall got there first. Heady stuff
56 - Eckersley runs a Houston attacker off the ball enough for Frei to get the ball. Williams, already in the books did well not to haul him down.
59 - Eckersley with two fab crosses and Peterson is craving the taste of a goal so bad you can feel it.
62 - Wow, WTF. Penalty for Plata and a card to Hall for the tackle... Then card rescinded and no penalty... I didn't know you could do that. All the refs that have screwed up calls in big games and it turns out there is a mulligan in the FIFA rule book. Or these discount refs are just making up shit as they go along. Wonder when he'll produce a blue card...
75 - SUB - Stevanovic off for Santos
76 - SUB - Peterson off for Gold
81 - GOAL - Wow. Plata lays it through to Maicon who one touches, into the box and slots it past hall like a pro. F*cking magic.
87 - GOAL - Lovel Palmer gets a hold of a long pass backwards and rockets one from 20 yds out. Frei wasn't going to stop it, but the only true lapse in a good game for the TFC back four.
89 - YELLOW - Eckersley booked for a clumsy tackle after losing the ball pushing too far ahead and taking out the Houston defender
3 mins of ET
92 - SUB - Plata for Gargan. Queue standing ovation.FULL TIME : Toronto 2 - Houston 1
Man of the Match : Plata. Absolutely brilliant. Legendary perhaps. First Robin to deserve a standing ovation sub in a very very long time
Goat of the Game : n/a
Ref Rating : 3 out of 5. It would be 2 except he blew calls for Houston like he blew them for TFC and the last yellow was correct. Even in the face of the rewind debacle.
Team ratings : Frei 7.5, Williams 7, Cann 7, Eckersley 7, Stevanovic 6.5 (Santos 7 for the goal), deGoo 7, Youassowsky 6.5, Plata 8 (Gargan -), Soolsma 6.5, Tchani 6, Peterson 7 (Gold -)
First match in a long time that I've been fully satisfied in a performance... All character players showed the heart and strength the side needs to gut out three points... Sometimes it feels like their mediocrity allows one to feel that a good performance is a 'masterstroke' simply by playing well, so perhaps the bar has been lowered... check in next game... Good supporters know that you sing when you're winning, but scream when you're losing... Would've tweeted more (ignirtoq) during the game except I wrote the whole report on the phone... Note to self : pack more pens, idiot...
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