



After earning a vital win last week against the Colorado Rapids, Toronto FC were back in action on Saturday and looking to take advantage of a nice run of home games against beatable opponents down the stretch of their 2015 campaign. While today’s opponent the Chicago Fire generally met the criteria to be a beatable opponent, TFC did come into this match not having defeated the Fire in their last 12 fixtures.



This fixture also marked the return of former Toronto FC Designated Player striker Gilberto to BMO Field to play his old squad as a member of Chicago.



Toronto FC Head Coach Greg Vanney elected to go with the exact same starting eleven that took care of business against the Rapids last week, with Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore spearheading the attack at the head of a 4-4-2 formation.



Listen to ESSU:

An MLS record breaking weekend in Canada,

Toronto vs Chicago Fire

Open Player in a New Window | Subscribe | iTunes | MP3 The Opening 45



The Fire opened the scoring in only the 1st minute of play when Toronto coughed up the ball in the midfield and the resulting Chicago counter attack ended with who else but Gilberto slotting the ball into the back of the TFC net.



Giovinco came within inches of answering back in the 4th minute when he launched a curling shot that was just wide of the far post.



The Atomic Ant showed off his patented superhuman moves in the 13th minute when dazzled while dribbling in the Fire box with two Chicago defenders in close proximity.



Toronto scored an equalizer just before the half hour mark when Giovinco unleashed a ridiculous chip shot from just inside the end line that eluded Fire keeper Jon Busch and found its way into the back of the net while being helped along by the slightest touch from Jonathan Osorio.



TFC came very close to taking the lead in the 44th minute when Jozy Altidore delivered a beautiful pass to send Giovinco in alone on Busch, with the veteran keeper ultimately getting a toe on the Italian International’s shot to keep things level.



The Second Half



The Fire shocked the BMO Field faithful in the 52nd minute when Gilberto was given acres of space to work with before him slotted in a shot just insider the post past Chris Konopka.



Chicago almost potted another goal a couple of minutes later on a corner kick but Marky Delgado was perfectly positioned to clear the ball off the line.



Toronto tied things up again in the 59th minute when Michael Bradley showed excellent patience in the Fire box to beat his defenders and slot the ball past Busch into the back of the net.



The Reds scored the game winner in the 79th minute when Giovinco delivered a corner kick into the Fire box, with Altidore grabbing onto a loose ball and hammering it into the back of the net.



Despite some slack defending that allowed Gilberto to put a genuine scare into TFC and their fans, overall, this was a solid home performance by the Reds as they got another three points on the road to qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in the club’s history.

Giovinco's (Osorio didn't touch it) goal was the first jaw dropping holy shit goal in 9 years as a season ticket holder. Sick. #TFC — Brian Bossin (@bbossin54) September 27, 2015

Man of the Match



Sebastian Giovinco

Once again the Atomic Ant was the player who set the pace for Toronto and led the Reds to a win. The Italian International was all over the pitch in this match as he orchestrated a TFC attack that was too much for the Fire to contain. With two assists to his credit, Giovinco set a new record for the most points in an MLS season. Toronto’s number 10 also delivered the corner kick that resulted in the winning goal.



Michael Bradley also had a very good two-way game, as the TFC captain bossed the midfield and added a key goal when Toronto looked they might be letting the game slip away.

Toronto FC Line-up



1 Chris Konopka

2 Justin Morrow

24 Damien Perquis

23 Josh Williams

18 Marky Delgado

4 Michael Bradley

8 Benoit Cheyrou

21 Jonathan Osorio

55 Robbie Findley

17 Jozy Altidore

10 Sebastian Giovinco



Substitutions: ackson for Marky Delgado (69’); Collen Warner for Robbie Findley (83’); Ahmed Kantari for Jozy Altidore (85’).

