The South Stand Report : Toronto v Atlanta

Atlanta is like a new wrestling stable that appears out of nowhere and just start turning heads, making a name for themselves and racking up the wins. Oh sure, it’s not like they’re going to headline WrestleMania win MLS Cup or even SummerSlam go deep into the playoffs, but they’ll win the Intercontinental Championship make the post-season.

What can we say about the “AU Guys!”, they’re high firepower. Can you even fathom an expansion team with that much firepower. I could think of one or two teams in history that would’ve liked a fraction of that output after 4 games. And Toronto has the second best goals against. So either all the goals or none of them.

Logic figures that either Atlanta runs Toronto over or it ends a scoreless draw. So…

Bold Predictions :

  1. Toronto wins 2-0
  2. Blown red card for either side
  3. Osorio scores from the bench

On to the Match :

6’ – nice little break down the middle where Giovinco lays it off for Vazquez, pops it over to Altidore, heads it back in forcing a glove on it from the keeper, finds Giovinco and skies it from 8 yards out. Apology Instagram forthcoming.

16’ – GOAL – Wow. Villalba gets the ball from 30 yards out, out-paces Mavinga and launches one from 15 yards out to the right of Bono.
ROBINS 0, SLOTHS 1

18’ – Villalba loses the ball on the touch line, gets up, flops to the ground with back pain. Gets a booking for being a wank.

20’ – GOAL – Vazquez slots a cute ball through a few defenders and Giovinco pops it in the wide side. Pretty stuff.
ROBINS 1, SLOTHS 1

44’ – GOAL – Beitashour rifles in a low cross and finds Morrow on the doorstep to belt it in. Pizza is on kids!
ROBINS 2, SLOTHS 1

Halftime Mood : may not be the most technically satisfying game, but I’m entertained.

46’ – GOAL – Wow again. Long long ball from deep the Atlanta end and fines Villalba over the top, picks it up 10 yards over half, runs into the box and nutmegs Bono. Pizza is now off the table.
ROBINS 2, SLOTHS 2

51’ – SUB – Hagglund on for Mavinga

53’ – a deflected cross from Beitashour gets deflected and the cleared but Cooper comes charging down on the ball and rockets it towards goal to be blocked by a lunging leg. Heady stuff.

73’ – SUB – Osorio on for Vazquez

Quote of the Match :

What’s good for TFC is good for pizza.

~ @redwineroz

74’ – Zavaleta gets a glancing forearm. Video ref tells Gantar and Asad gets a straight red. Someone from the Atlanta bench got sent off too.
Free headline : A SAD, SAD ASAD

81’ – YELLOW – Hagglund gets booked for stuff

82 ‘ – SUB – Ricketts for Beitashour. Go for it Greg! #noBlame #altitts *hey*

84’ – Hagglund gets on the end of the corner

87’ – Giovinco cross and Altidore can’t lunge far enough to knock it in

4 minutes of extra time

Full Time : Toronto 2, Atlanta 2

Man of the Match : I’m going to go with Zavaleta and an honourable mention to Cooper. Excellent efforts from both.

Goat of the Game : Villalba, who may be the new favorite villan. Love it.

Ref Rating : 3 out of 5. Had a good match, got a +1 for catching the elbow, get a -1 for suspect no calls in the last 15 mins

I Am Not The Gaffer, But… : Nothing here. Well managed sir.

In Case You PVR’d It : it’s a good match. Watch it all.

Bold Predictions Results :

  1. Failed it. That resolved fairly quickly.
  2. Failed it. I blame the Donadel incident from last night for losing faith in officials.
  3. Failed it. Looked like they were trying though.

This was a completely different match than last week. Better weather, better ball movement, better opportunities, better game, easier to be engaged in the match… Villalba was a delight for a heel tonight, wasn’t he? Fake injury, smashing goal, applauds the home fans as he comes off. He’s so good. Well uncovered Atlanta… I feel for Osorio. He never needs to apologise for his mistakes last week, but I thoroughly appreciate and respect it and wanted him to bag one so bad. I didn’t need to see a certain article outlining the pressure he puts on himself to perform. By shining a light on it, no matter how altruistic a position it could come from, very likely made a difficult situation worse… We challenged ourselves to name another time where TFC fielded a starting XI that was absent of Canadians, as was tonight’s lineup. We’re open to suggestions… Not gonna lie, we came up with a bunch of serious and stupid questions to ask TFC President Bill Manning that we kinda regret not coming up with earlier. One of which was his thoughts on the hashtag to unite the world, #altitts *hey*

Player Ratings : Bono 6.5, Moor 6.5, Zavaleta 6.5, Morrow 7, Beitashour 6.5 (Ricketts N/A), Mavinga 5.5 (Hagglund 6), Bradley 6, Vazquez 6.5 (Osorio N/A), Cooper 7, Altidore 6, Giovinco 7

Unused Substitutions : Pais, Edwards, Delgado, Chapman

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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7 Comments

  1. Another frustrating draw, but an exciting game nevertheless. I agree, Cooper had a very good match and it looks like he is learning to pass too! With Vasquez and Osorio generally playing well, I was starting to think that TFC wasted their money on keeping Cooper, but he certainly showed a spark and some great footwork in this match. And finally passing to Giovinco instead of always going for goal himself and losing the ball. Fun to watch. Also I really like Vasquez, but am I detecting a hint of a conflict between him and Giovinco? When it comes to free kicks, and when Vanquez takes a shot instead of an easy pass to Seba? The good thing though is that Vasquez consistently hits the target, so at least he’s justified in taking the shot!

    Still a work in progress for TFC this season, but I’m enjoying the games and they’re still unbeaten. The wins will come!

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    • Maybe Sebs starting his runs a little too deep.

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  2. The old “kick it and everybody run” never worked for us, but it does for Atlanta. And it does so every time. Check that, Koevermans made it work.

    Nice to see Gantar back in Toronto and he now consults with his assistants before sticking his foot in it. Good for him.

    Vanney needs to get some of that pretty passing happening when both teams’ defense play all behind the ball.

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  3. as I said with about 60% confidence at the game, the last time with no canadians in the starting lineup was this season, in philly. and the internet tells me i was right.
    but hey, look at all that cancon on the bench! 4 out of 7! wow.

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  4. The game itself still frustrates me – that was a winnable game for Toronto and they still feel disjointed. Yes undefeated is good, Seba finally getting a goal is good, having some excitement in the game was good, but…there doesn’t seem to be a level of confidence or togetherness that I’d expect from this group – they don’t seem like they’re enjoying it at all. Dunno – frustrating to watch right now.

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