South Couch Report : Montreal v Toronto

The Part I Write Before :

What a week. First a 200th episode of the podcast, then advancing to the semi-final of your #MomsCCL, and now a derby in Montreal on St Patrick’s Day.

Bold Predictions : Courtesy of the missus

1. Vanney ejection (harsh)
2. Interruption in game from wild animal (bizarre)
3. Morgan gets a point (ridiculous)

On to the Match :

21′ – I’ve just noticed now that the desire for a Montreal midfielder to get seriously hurt is absent. Just looked up that Donadel is on the bench. Stay there, you bastard.

28′ – Nice counter, Oso to Giovinco to van der Weil, cross from the right side doesn’t have enough pace behind it to reach Altidore, but goes out for a corner.

30′ – Piatti gets the ball at the edge of the box, I panic, but Moor doesn’t and clears it.

33′ – Giovinco takes a wee pass from Osorio just at the top of the box, settles it and fires it forcing Bush to make a save.

35′ – YELLOW Bradley goes into book for a clumsy tackle, but it’s really accumulation for a string of mistimed tackles.

41′ – GOAL – Piatti runs at the Toronto defenders, dishes off to Vargas, fires it, takes a deflection off of a lunging Hagglund, and beats Bono.
CHEESEMAKERS 1, ROBINS 0

42′ – Is this a replay? Piatti runs at defenders AGAIN, shrugs off Moor, Zavaleta gets faked out and takes a shot but Hagglund gets in front to prevent further carnage.

45′ – GUYS! PICK UP PIATTI!!! Gets on the end of a cute chip pass, settles it, Zavaleta gets lost a bit and Piatti fires but Hagglund makes another stop.

Halftime Mood : OMG Piatti. OMG.

58′ – Vargas does an gorgeous 1-2 with Piatti, in alone and fires past Bono and past the post.

59′ – SUB Hagglund off for Delgado

59′ – SUB Aketxe off for Hasle

62′ – Piatti shot right at Bono. If you were going shot for shot with Nacho, you’d be feeling a buzz by now.

64′ – Giovinco loops a ball over the top, Altidore takes it on the chest, pops the keeper, but goes wide of the far post.

66′ – SUB Auro in for Morgan

70′ – Vargas gets sprung alone at goal, redirects the ball past Bono, into the net. Offside.

72′ – Giovinco has a go from outside the box, but fires just wide.

75′ – Zavaleta gets a leg in on a tackle inside the box, ref calls no penalty, buuuuuut… I think Toronto got away with that one.  Replay shows sublime form in diving, but if he fell like a normal obstructed player, he’d probably get it.  His leg got in the way of progress inside the penalty area, but he chose his lot.

77′ – Hasler gets a header right at Bush

80′ – Bradley gets in on goal with a through ball, but his shot hits Bush. Rough angle.

82′ – the telly just flashed Donadel is getting ready to come in. Fuck. That. Guy.

84′ – Gah! Altidore gets a great ball from Delgado, jukes to lose his marker, fires it, beats Bush, but the trickling ball gets cleared off the line by Petrasso. Ugh.

85′ – DONADEL’S FIRST TOUCH AND HE FIRES IT INTO OSORIO’S FACE. FUCK. THAT. GUY.

87′ – Bradley launches a low curling shot from 25 yards just goes wide of the post.

4 minutes of extra time

90+4′ – Giovinco free kick launches into the car park. Also Donadel gets a yellow card for just being him.

Full Time : Montreal 1, Toronto 0

Man of the Match : Piatti by a wide margin.
Goat of the Game : Um… Donadel #fuckThatGuy
Ref Rating : 3 out of 5
I Am Not The Gaffer, But… : cloning Vazquez should be under his auspices. Otherwise, it didn’t work.
In Case You PVR’d It : Watch the last 15 minutes of the first half, last half-hour of the second. Skip the rest.

Bold Predictions Results : Courtesy of the missus

1. Failed it. Vanney wasn’t terribly subversive.
2. Failed it. No actual wildlife, but I’m sure there were a few birds flipped at Donadel.
3. Failed it. Nothing from our nastly left back.

I really missed Vazquez. I’m sure his teammates missed him more, but his absence was markedly noticed. Bradley as the play maker and defensive support comes back to that first season problem – being everything to everyone.  He was passable at both but not particularly good at either… Moor had a much better day.  Piatti should’ve had a bucket-load of goals today, but he did his part in being enough of a pain in the ass to keep it low… Bono’s keeper kit reminds me of this Liverpool away 93-95. Also dug Bush’s orange number. This is the year of the keeper kit.  Get’em while they’re hot (you can get unbranded ones – the model is Adidas Adipro 18 Goalkeeper Jersey)… I still have patience for the new kids. It helps that the side is anemic right now, so it’s difficult to pin the lackluster non-CONCACAF performances on them.  Noticed more offensive play from van der Weil, but defensive is lacking… How awesome is Osorio these days? Enjoyed his contributions on that mess they called a pitch… “it would’ve been the third game in a row where a Chilean named Vargas would’ve scored against them” (paraphrasing).  So good @LukeWileman…

Player Ratings: Bono 6, Moor 6.5, Hagglund 6.5 (Delgado N/A), Zavaleta 6, Agetxe 6 (Hasler 6), van der Wiel 6, Morgan 6 (Auro N/A), Osorio 6.5, Bradley 6, Altidore 6, Giovinco 6

Unused Substitutions: Irwin, Mavinga, Hamilton, Chapman