The South Stand Report : Toronto v Colorado

Colorado Rapids as the Caribou of Colorado.

The Part I Write Before The Match :

Anything can happen, it seems. An undermanned Toronto can somehow hold their mettle to steal a point in historic legendary Yankee Stadium missing too much of their first team. So why not a thumping of Colorado.

Bold Predictions :

  1. Colorado wearing their buttery Sweden kits
  2. Vazquez man of the Match performance
  3. A keeper let’s in a howler of a goal (either side)

On to the Match :

5’ – GOAL – Chip along the goal line finds Endoh, his attempt is saved beautifully, but the rebound finds Chapman and his header gets in.
ROBINS 1, BUTTERY SWEDES 0

27’ – YELLOW – Mavinga for a late revenge-ish tackle.

39’ – SUB – Ricketts on for a hurt Cheyrou

41’ – Giovinco free kick over the wall but punched over the bar.

48’ – Delgado takes his second, possibly third, long range Bradley-esque attempt to chip the world and it sails over the bar.

54’ – Chapman just tears the Colorado defense apart beating two and drawing a free kick outside of the box. Vazquez free kick finds a diving Hagglund who’s header just sails over the bar.

62’ – Ricketts breaks down the left side and gets a shot off but it’s saved by MacMath

Quote of the Match :

How dare you try taking your job back from Tim Howard!

~ @kzknowles yelling at Zac MacMath

66’ – Colorado tries to get into the match with a big cross. The header doesn’t have enough on it but it causes a problem for the defense and forces Irwin to make a big save.

69’ – SUB – Morgan comes on for Edwards

73’ – Chapman is down.

73’ – SUB – Chapman is out and Cooper is in

75’ – Ricketts with the extra effort on the wing, gets tackled but the ball squirts through and he cleverly pops it up that finds Vazquez but his header doesn’t reach his target in the centre. Would’ve been glorious.

76’ – GOAL – Colorado on a counter after a Cooper giveaway, Badji takes it on the right, drags it towards the middle and lets a low shot go, beating Irwin low corner.
ROBINS 1, BUTTERY SWEDES 1

85′ – After the Cooper howler, he did this to make up for it (H/T @mitchelltierney)

89’ – Two fake-dead Colorado players, rolling around on the pitch at the end? Pathetic. I expect better from you Pablo.

5 mins of extra time

90+2 – That’s an appalling tackle. Colorado is soooo shit. Just a yellow for Hairston

90+4’ – Giovinco needs to go for glory, fires over the bar at a bad angle.

Full Time : Toronto 1, Colorado 1

Fucking appalling.

Man of the Match : Chapman was very good so he gets the nod. Had some creativity and scored a nice one. Vazquez was excellent as well.

Goat of the Game : I almost put Giovinco, but the Crapids were so shit-tastic in the last 10 mins, fuck them.

Ref Rating : 3 out of 5. He could have easily been card happy at the end but wasn’t.

I Am Not The Gaffer, But… : Fraser did a very good job.

In Case You PVR’d It : watch the goals and the last 10 to 15 mins. Build yourself up to the rage you will feel for Colorado.

Kit Spotting : I’m still giving this to the Colorado Rapids in their buttery Swedish kit.

Bold Predictions Results :

  1. Nailed it. They wore them.
  2. Nailed it. I know I gave it to Chappers, but he was excellent.
  3. Failed it. Both goals were defensive lapses.

Guest Observation : A good match ruined by behavioral displays of an infantile character. @robmikulec

This was a much stranger game as Colorado, who didn’t really deserve a point and got one, were ripe for the plucking of all the points and dropped two. For large stretches, Toronto we’re in control and after the early goal, looked like they might be straight messing with them for the next three or four goals… But they never came.

Colorado got their equalizer, which was earned.The mighty Robins, however, could’ve and should’ve had more. Tactically, they neutralized Giovinco for almost the entire game, but had no real answers for anybody else’s creativity or advances down the park. Vasquez, who surprised me doesn’t get the same marking treatment as Giovinco, was allowed to do whatever he wanted for most of the game, but none of his work resulted in a goal (I don’t think Vazquez put in the cross that led to the first goal). [~ His pass led to Giovinco’s cross into the box for the first goal, so leaning towards yes. ~ Ed.]

While I appreciate Giovinco’s contributions, sometimes when it’s just not working, he should easily switch to the role of playmaker rather than goal scorer. Accepting that he is capable of making magic out of nothing and has often turned a game on its head with only one touch, part of me wishes that he take more of a playmaking role when it isn’t working and just be distributor of the ball. Last 15 minutes when Toronto was going for glory we had a few opportunities that went nowhere or were blocked before they became a real threat. I also accept that hindsight is 20/20 and that had he and scored on any one of them, this paragraph wouldn’t exist. Suppose it’s all in being spoiled with having one of the greatest players in the league on your side.

Player Ratings : Irwin 6, Zavaleta 6, Mavinga 6.5, Hagglund 6, Edwards 6 (Morgan N/A), Endoh 6, Cheyrou 6.5 (Ricketts 6), Vazquez 7, Delgado 6, Giovinco 6, Chapman 7.5 (Cooper 6)

Unused Substitutions : Bono, Moor, Hamilton, Alseth

Author: Mark Hinkley

Mark is a full-time graphic designer, full-time smart ass and full-time logo, stadium and kit nerd. When he isn't writing ridiculous match reports or redesigning logos for his own amusement, he's salivating over the day that promotion and relegation occurs in MLS. You can follow him @kitnerdmark on the twitterz.

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1 Comment

  1. Now just you hold up on going off on Seba. I thought he should have been much more selfish in this one.

    I was disappointed to see Chapman get pulled from the game. That substitution didn’t work out.

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