South Stand Report : DeRo Testimonial & Toronto FC v NYCFC
Well this was a long day.
Not necessarily a bad one, just long.
The Dwayne DeRosario Testimonial match was a fun affair. A bunch of legends with varying degrees of legendaryness suited up in a Canadians v non-Canadians. Non-Canadians won 3-1, with Dichio bagging one and DeRo bagging the other three. For whatever reason, the goalies were playing their A-games, as Stamatopoulos and Monsalve were going for gold in their own nets. I don’t know if they’re auctioning off the kits or anything, but I’d be interested in an autographed one of those puppies.
Highlight of the match was Kei Kamara. Nevermind how rediculously classy it was for him to come up from Columbus on his bye week off to play in it, but he was entertaining. He yelled at a linesman for someone being way off side (the linesman was laughing at it), then we gave him a cheer and he waved to us. Top it all off, he subbed himself on (no one coming off) in the last minutes giving the international all-stars an extra player.
All in all, got the scarf, donated some dosh, had a laugh and got to watch Ali Gerba nearly poach a few.
I would like to say that that the 3+ hour gap was bad. Sure we could leave the stadium and grab a bite (which we did) but it’s a bit of a momentum killer. Not sure if there was a logistics issue, but not conducive to most supporters. I don’t know if there’s much chance of this being a regular event, but, again, it was fun. I liked seeing Danny Koevermans and Danny Dichio and Paul Stalteri and Robbie Artistodemo (there’s a Lynx name from the past). Can we do this again next year? Say start 2 hours before kick off, have people with buckets collecting money for the charity?
After much delayed pizza (Duncan knows), we headed back to the ground for New York City FC. Sure it was David Villa with 10 also-rans (yeah, I said it), but his name certainly got some people into the stands. They play between weak and terrible – so nothing can go wrong.
On to the match:
8′ – PENALTY – Are you serioux? Cross from a corner bounces and hits Cheyrou’s outstretched arm. Pretty soft
9′ – GOAL – David Villa sends Konopka the wrong way. So THIS is how it’s gonna be.
ROBINS 0, VILLA 1
20′ – YELLOW – Giovinco got his revenge tackle in and was booked for it.
25′ – Perquis gets hauled down off the ball in the penalty area and nothing. Then gets in a shouting match with a few defenders.
30′ – Giovinco draws a defender, lays off to Morgan who crosses a beautiful low ball in for a tap in but stopped by Saunders.
45′ – Morgan gets booked for a challenge that the other guy slid into him and came out worse for wear.
58′ – GOAL – David Villa gets onto a poorly defended low cross and pops it past Konopka
ROBINS 0, VILLA 2
59′ – SUB – Moore off for Altidore
61′ – corner from Bradley finds Zavaleta who heads it towards the lower corner but it’s saved by Saunders
76′ – SUB – Jackson on for Warner
83′ – SUB – Findley comes on for Morgan
87′ – YELLOW – Altidore gets booked for a disagreement with the official for a foul
3 minutes of extra time
FULL TIME : Toronto 0, New York 2
Man of the Match : Saunders from NYCFC. He was the difference between Toronto running up the score and winning.
Goat of the Game : Zavaleta had not one, but two lapses in judgement which lead to the second goal, first by coughing it up, and second by not picking up his mark who slotted it to David Villa.
Ref Rating : 2 out of 5. He was poor, whistle happy, and seemed to be more than willing to flash a card. He should be a 1, but we’ve seen worse.
Kit Spotting : Dunfirmline home is a winner, but someone had a Coventry City kit during the testimonial
I Am Not The Gaffer But… : Findley needs to be put at the back of the line and play some kids instead. Otherwise, I don’t know if more could’ve been done to improve this.
In Case You PVR’d It : watch up until the 70th minute. After that, Toronto clearly gets frustrated and gives up, but resume after the whistle at the end and find out what had Perquis all up in handbags about.
The scoreline does not reflect how good of a game it was. For most of the game, Toronto did not appear to be out of the match. They threw plenty of great opportunities and fired shots only to be foiled by the opposition keeper. New York had very few meaningful attacks, and it’s unfortunate that most of them resulted in a goal. New York’s back four is terrible, and they kinda look like a one trick pony, but that pony is really good.
Player Ratings : Konopka 6, Morrow 6.5, Zavaleta 5, Perquis 6, Morgan 6.5 (Findley N/A), Cheyrou 6.5, Warner 6 (Jackson N/A), Osorio 6, Bradley 6.5, Giovinco 6.5, Moore 6 (Altidore N/A)
June 22, 2015
The game was a David vs Goliath match-up, and David Villa maintained the historic streak for the Davids.
TFC managed to kowtow to the New Yorkers with lethargic midfield play and a frustratingly, naive approach in the box. On the second goal conceded, we might as well have picked the ball up and placed it in our goal. The fraction the ball left Zaveleta’s foot, fate was sealed. Yes I know TFC did have chances, but they were poorly taken as one can possibly take…they were really not chances. Toronto did nothing in the game to differentiate themselves as the higher ranked team in the standings. And so the key week before the summer window and the GC, starts off as many of us feared it would.
Now Mark you are right, Referee Chapman was not at all good, but we have seen worse. The one comment is the Referee Chapman had a WWE quality to him. He would intervene after a foul (many times not calling a foul), turn his back on the villain and tell the victim that he will take care of things and will set things right and then do nothing. While all the time the villain would be snickering and plotting their next move and the referee is oblivious to what is happening in front of him. Will the MLS be handing out trophy belts at the end of the season?
BTW – I now have been assigned a space invader like avatar, I like it.