



After being soundly beaten at home by Sporting Kansas City last weekend, Toronto were looking to get back on track with a crucial Eastern Conference matchup at Red Bull Arena on Saturday evening.



With Toronto struggling defensively in recent weeks, TFC Head Coach Greg Vanney elected to shake up his back four by giving recently acquired defender Josh Williams his first start, with the quartet of Justin Morrow, Williams, Ahmed Kantari and Ashtone Morgan becoming the 12th different back line that Vanney has employed this season.



Midfielder Benoit Cheyrou returned to the starting eleven after missing last weekend’s match due to suspension.



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New York came out of the gate like a herd of rabid bulls and played with an intensity and pace that very quickly reinforced that this was going to be a very long night for Toronto.



Toronto actually had an excellent chance to open the scoring in the 5th minute when Giovinco set up a scoring chance on a platter for Marky Delgado. However, the young midfielder was unable to get his shot on target.



TFC struggled to string together passes as the half progressed, as New York pressed them with an energy and coherence that suggested that the home team was simply playing the game at a higher level.



Reds keeper Joe Bendik made a diving save on a dangerous shot by Lloyd Sam in the 26th minute, but then saw Bradley Wright-Phillips open the scoring a minute later after another instance of weak defending by Toronto’s defense.



The Second Half



Toronto FC continued to struggle to generate scoring chances for much of the second half, as the chemistry displayed between Giovinco, Altidore, Bradley and Cheyrou earlier on the season wholly absent on this day.



The Red Bulls doubled their lead in the 66th minute when defender Anthony Wallace beat Bendik with a blast from distance.



TFC Head Coach Greg Vanney looked to re-energize his side at the 71st minute with a double substitution, with Herculez Gomez and Daniel Lovitz coming on in place of Benoit Cheyrou and Ashtone Morgan respectively.



Toronto showed some life offensively after the changes but continued to struggle to deliver a dangerous final pass to unlock the Red Bulls defense.



The Reds best chance to get on the scoreboard came in the 87th minute when Collen Warner delivered a fine through ball to send in Giovinco, but the Atomic Ant mistimed his run and was unable to connect with the ball.



New York added an insurance goal on the counter attack in injury time, with Bendik making the stop on Bradley Wright-Phillips initial shot. However, a trailing Gonzalo Veron easily tapped in the rebound to ensure that the final scoreline was more commensurate with run of play.



Overall, this was a very poor performance by Toronto. On the other side of the equation, New York was exceptionally good. At times Toronto looked like they were playing the match down by two men, as New York’s pressing, pace and energy were genuinely impressive.



Couple this loss with the beating that Toronto took last week at the hands of Kansas City and it is becoming clearer where the Reds sit in the Eastern Conference pecking order. The quality of Giovinco makes them by default a team capable of beating the lesser teams in the league. However, when playing against the better sides in the league, the flaws in the squad are very clear.

9 years of #TFC summed up in one vine #TFCLive https://t.co/A4YkDB57rf — edmund (@edmundoTO) August 16, 2015

Man of the Match



Josh Williams

Central defender Josh Williams delivered a fine performance in his first match for Toronto FC. He was solid defending 1v1 and his position and anticipation were very good. Overall, his performance was one of the few positives for TFC on the evening. That said, it says a lot about the Reds that their best player was a central defender in a match in which the team conceded three goals.



Simply put, there were way too many passengers for Toronto on this day, as the club was second best by several light years compared to the Red Bulls. Ahmed Kantari was a combination of poor and sluggish in central defense and Marky Delgado was mostly anonymous for the entire ninety minutes. Team captain Michael Bradley looked like a player out for a light jog on a Saturday evening as he endeavoured to stay fit for his next match for the U.S. Men’s National Team. Jozy Altidore also had another rough match, as nothing went his way and the constantly frustrated look on his face summed up Toronto’s evening perfectly.



Of note, Canadian International Karl Ouimette had a fine game for the Red Bulls, as he shut down Altidore completely and took him completely out of the match. August 31 2014 #TFC was 9-9-6 tied for 3rd in east. August 15 2015 they are 9-10-4 tied for 4th pending NE Revs result #justsaying #tfclive — Toarea Fan (@TOareaFan) August 16, 2015

Toronto FC Line-up



12 Joe Bendik

2 Justin Morrow

23 Josh Williams

41 Ahmed Kantari

5 Ashtone Morgan

4 Michael Bradley

21 Benoit Cheyrou

26 Collen Warner

18 Marky Delgado

17 Jozy Altidore

10 Sebastian Giovinco



Substitutions: Daniel Lovitz for Ashtone Morgan (71’); Herculez Gomez for Benoit Cheyrou (71’); Nick Hagglund for Justin Morrow (81’). Who is your Man of the Match?

12 Joe Bendik2 Justin Morrow23 Josh Williams41 Ahmed Kantari5 Ashtone Morgan4 Michael Bradley21 Benoit Cheyrou26 Collen Warner18 Marky Delgado17 Jozy Altidore10 Sebastian GiovincoDaniel Lovitz for Ashtone Morgan (71’); Herculez Gomez for Benoit Cheyrou (71’); Nick Hagglund for Justin Morrow (81’).