South Stand Report : Toronto v Chicago

Chicago Fire as the Sting

Chicago Fire as the Sting

Umbrella, poncho, back up poncho, wellies, goggles, water wings, I think I’m ready.

It’s supposed to be gorgeous out there today, sunny, warm enough, and playing a weak Chicago side. Toronto is in the midst of rather the homestand and started off right with the defeat of buttery Sweden, erm, Colorado, 3-1 in the midst of a second half typhoon (not a metaphor).

Today we also get to welcome back Gilberto. Readers of this site know the adoration for the Brazilian forward, and genuinely, we do welcome him back. We also wish him the best with Chicago, and hope he scores a goal.

We also hope Chicago loses 4-1, but hope that Gilberto gets that one.

Anyways, on to the match!

1′ – GOAL – well that was quick. Gilberto gets on the end of a long ball and pops it past Konopka.
ROBINS 0, STING 1

4′ – Giovinco has a go and nearly curls it into the far corner, but bends wide.

15′ – Hilarious. Giovinco absolutely terrorizes Chicago’s Cyrus in the corner AND forces the corner kick for Toronto. A delightful mismatch that needs to be seen to be appreciated

30′ – GOAL – well that’s man of the Match wrapped up. Giovinco takes a corner and it gets blocked back to him 5 yards out from the corner flag. His second attempt floats over the keeper, bends a little to the left and banks it off the far post. Magic. Goal was awarded to Osorio.  Sure. Still Magic.
ROBINS 1, STING 1

52′ – GOAL Gilberto is sent in and slots it past Konopka. See, he can score at BMO Field. Damn.
ROBINS 2, STING 1

58′ – GOAL Bradley breaks into the box and fires the ball. Slightly deflected but bounces its way in.
ROBINS 2, STING 2

70′ – YELLOW – Giovinco for something

70′ – SUB – Jackson on for Delgado but not Findley

79′ – GOAL – Fired in from a corner, the ball bounces around and finds the enigma that is Jozy Altidore and it goes in. Still don’t get it but ok.
ROBINS 3, STING 2

83′ – SUB – Warner comes in for Findley finally

85′ – SUB – Kantari is on for Altidore. Sure why not.

89′ – Konopka goes for a challenge. Misses the ball, and slams into Perquis #justSayin

5 mins of extra time

FULL TIME : TORONTO 3, CHICAGO 2

Man of the Match : This was the Giovinco show.  He was the biggest little monster on the pitch.

Goat of the Game : Findley.  OK, I’ll admit he wasn’t the usual anemic Findley self, but he still frustrates me.

Ref Rating : 3 out of 5.  He could’ve been more aggressive with foul calling.

Kit Spotting : I thought I had it with Vicenza home stripe one, but Tony spotted a Queen’s Park one. The Scottish amateur side, not QPR.

I Am Not The Gaffer, But… : the photos that Findley has on the gaffer must be damning.

In Case You PVR’d It : Watch the whole thing.  It’s delightfully weird and head-scratchingly mismatched, but the scoreline only reflected it in the end.

It was a very strange game as, without keeping track, Chicago didn’t have too many offensive moments.  Both goals came off of quick breaks that found Gilberto.  Scoring within the first 2 minutes made it even stranger as looking back, they did very little else… Most of the game felt like it was played in Chicago’s end. When Chicago did get the ball, very rudimentary pressure would cause them to give up the ball… As much as I do like Konopka, I’m still pro-Bendik.  When Konopka leaves his feet, it’s like he closes his eyes.  Glad that this challenge didn’t result in conceding a goal and, moreso, that Perquis was OK, though the look of shock was very amusing.  Otherwise, he had a solid game… If Jackson is going to be a “off the bench, different tool set to cause problems” type of player, I’m OK with that, but I do miss him in the majority of the game… Our apologies to Fire supporters, we had a “Hauptman does not like kittens or puppies” banner, but we left it at home… The Vocal Minority happily cheered all five goals today.  Especially Gilberto’s two.  We do wish him well, and we were scared he was going to spoil the party with a late goal for the hat-trick, but he looked great, and unnecessary, but classy for not celebrating… Cyrus and Giovinco traded shirts at the end of the match.  Cyrus must want to show everyone the size of the guy who schooled the living hell out of him every time he went near him.  According to Wikipedia, Cyrus stands a meager 6’3 12“, Giovinco is a towering 5’4”.

Player Ratings : Konopka 6, Delgado 6 (Jackson 6), Williams 6, Perquis 6, Morrow 6, Findley 5.5 (Warner N/A), Bradley 7.5, Cheyrou 6.5, Osorio 7, Giovinco 8, Altidore 7 (Kantari N/A)

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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2 Comments

  1. so many good moments in this game. the aforementioned giovinco bullying cyrus into giving up a corner, obviously Gil scoring then doing his basketball celebration again, wonder if bruno whatsisname from the raptors was in the crowd? gilberto nutmegging bradley i enjoyed a lot. Konopka flattening perquis was notable in a horrific kind of way.
    giovinco’s goal (yeah it was) was just an incredible bit of play, the imagination to even try it is remarkable, never mind the skill to pull it off. sure he only beats up on the crap teams, but the way he does it sometimes, woof. just woof.
    gil scores twice, tfc win, fun day at bmo field.

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    • Gilberto, returns triumphantly.

      Those 3 points have given TFC a real fighting chance to make it into the playoffs. The team sits 5 points from the top and 5 points from falling out of the playoffs. There is only one game in the remaining four that resembles this past game, the next match against Philly. The following 2 will be considerably more difficult and then there is the finale in Montreal. Orlando is quite capable of taking 6 or 7 points from their last 3 games.

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