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Steve Bottjer ,

July 26, 2014 Email

Steve Bottjer



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@BottjerRNO

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Fresh off a midweek friendly against Tottenham Hotspur, Toronto FC were back in action at BMO Field on Saturday as the club faced one of its most challenging fixtures of the season. With superstar striker Jermain Defoe suspended due to yellow card accumulation, the Reds faced off against the reigning MLS Cup champions and top side in the Eastern Conference, Sporting Kansas City.



With Kansas City sporting one of the most dynamic offenses in the league, TFC went into this one behind the eight ball considering two starting defenders – back line leader Steven Caldwell and right back Mark Bloom – were also out due to injury. Open Player in a New Window | Subscribe | iTunes | MP3 The Opening 45 Toronto took the lead in the 16th minute when Dominic Oduro delivered a sublime through ball to Jackson, who showed poise to beat the keeper and then calmly put the ball in the back of the net with two Sporting defenders lurking.



After a glaring missed call by referee Ted Unkel when Gilberto was brought down by Aurelien Collin as the last man back, the Reds came close to doubling their lead on a number of occasions.



In the 23rd minute, Oduro delivered a pinpoint cross that Nick Hagglund headed off the goalpost. Eleven minutes later Oduro came close again when he elected to shoot when everyone was expecting him to cross the ball, with the Ghanaian speedster hammering the ball off the post.



Arguably Toronto’s best half of the season was overshadowed by a genuinely horrendous officiating performance by Unkel, who looked hell bent on outdoing recent clunkers delivered by Sorin Stoica and Baldomero Toledo. Maybe some day, the Karma bus will do its thing and Peterson will get traded to Montreal. #TFCLive — Stephanie Gunther (@StephGunther) July 27, 2014

The Second Half Kansas City quickly evened the proceedings up in the 48th minute when forward Graham Zusi took advantage of a Reds back line in disarray and put a shot inside the far post.



The Reds had an excellent chance to even things up two minutes later on the counter attack but Jackson’s end product on the shot was a tepid one that was saved easily by keeper Andy Gruenebaum.



Jackson came up short again in the 61st minute when Gilberto delivered a perfect cross only to see the Brazilian winger unable to deliver the quality needed to put his volley in the back of the net.



Jackson inexplicably missed another golden opportunity in the 65th minute when Oduro sent a cross through the six yard box, with the Brazilian ultimately shooting high on an open net from the far post.



Referee Unkel came under fire again late in the half when Oduro looked to be in on goal only to be pulled down by Igor Juliao, with the Sporting KC defender earning only a yellow card for his foul.



Unkel finally earned the approval of the BMO Field faithful in the 75th minute when he awarded Juliao his second yellow of the match when he once again fouled an on fire Oduro.



Toronto ultimately ended up being unable to take advantage of the extra man, as Sporting added insult to injury as hated former TFC midfielder Jacob Peterson ended up scoring the winning goal in the 80th minute.



Ultimately, while many will point to Unkel as the architect of this defeat, the Reds were really responsible for their own demise. Simply put, their defending was ragged on the two goals they conceded and they did not finish the type of chances that good teams always put away.







Man of the Match Dominic Oduro

The lighting quick winger was a force of nature all evening long, as he delivered a tour de force performance that really should have been the basis for a lopsided victory by his team. Sporting Kansas City had no answer for Oduro other than to foul him constantly. He could have easily had a brace and four assists for his impressive efforts in this game.



Honourable mention Michael Bradley looked to be back to his best for much of this match, as he lead with authority and dominated the midfield and covered a ton of ground.



While Jackson scored Toronto’s only goal of the match, he deserves dishonourable mention by virtue of the fact that he missed a multitude of sitters in this game and should have had four goals to his credit. His lack of finish was the difference between a win and a loss for Toronto on this day. Interestingly, he scored on his most challenging chance of the game and missed several easy tap ins. Toronto FC Line-up

12 Joe Bendik

2 Justin Morrow

16 Bradley Orr

15 Doneil Henry

17 Nick Hagglund

11 Jackson

18 Collen Warner

4 Michael Bradley

23 Dominic Oduro

19 Luke Moore

9 Gilberto



Substitutions: Jonathan Osorio for Collen Warner (80), Dwayne De Rosario for Bradley Orr (81). Who is your Man of the Match?