Orlando City meets Miami Gatos
The Part I Write Before The Match :
For once, weather gods have been kind to us with this respite from precipitation to give us some lovely football weather. I only mention this as an opening salvo as it’s been raining the last few days, and will rain for the next few days, well into the weekend.
What can I say about this match. Toronto has put forth rather comprehensive matches over the last 180 minutes and I’m quietly excited for what tonight will bring. Orlando’s record is very impressive, but since most of those points have come from being at home, we’ll see how the Purple Ones survive in the harshest of Canadian climates (i.e., spring).
Bold Predictions :
- Cyle Larin will not score
- Toledo will hand out 2 questionable bookings
- Toronto wins 3-1
On to the Match :
9’ – GOAL – Edwards just burns the hell out of his marker, puts it towards Altidore, pops up for Giovinco, takes a touch, pulls it across his body and fires low and to the right besting Bendik.
ROBINS 1, PURPLES 0
25’ – beautiful ball over the top sends Altidore on a break but Bendik comes out to challenge and gets to it just before Jozy. Well played Bendik.
39’ – GOAL – Beitashour down the left wing, crosses in and Giovinco gets a touch, Bendik save. Rebound comes out, Vazquez gets on it, clever dink back to Giovinco and buries it.
ROBINS 2, PURPLES 0
45’ – GOAL – Kaka gets on the end of a loose ball after a scramble and buries it up top
ROBINS 2, PURPLES 1
50’ – YELLOW – Bono gets booked for taking down Larin in the corner
53’ – YELLOW – Altidore for a late challenge and a bit of frustration
58’ – Orlando putting the pressure on the perimeter of the box and the ball gets free to an open Kaka on the right, Zavaleta shuts him down.
59’ – ball get through and is about to bounce over the line, Bono gets his hand behind the ball and swipes it out denying Larin a goal. #sorryNotSorry
Also, Toledo is being selective. Again.
64’ – Toronto working the counter attack and Giovinco back rolls the ball onto the path of Altidore, but he slightly over runs it and fires wide.
65’ – SUB – Osorio in for Vazquez
67’ – Bono denies another Larin goal nearly off the line. Then the counter attack happens and Toledo calls a foul against Toronto because Altidore was being held back? Go ahead refs, justify it. Do it…
73’ – Toledo ruins a perfectly good counter attack again. Can’t wait to see how that looks in a replay. #fullToledo
74’ – Toledo gets a sarcastic round of applause for finally calling a foul for Toronto. Making it all about him.
79’ – SUB – Cooper on for Edwards
82’ – SUB – Ricketts in for Altidore #noAltitts
2 minutes of extra time
Full Time : Toronto 2, Orlando 1
Man of the Match : Giovinco brace but so many solid performances. You know what? Screw it… Bono, gets it. Changed my mind mid-form. On the cusp of a legendary performance with two line clearances. #badass #dangerous
Goat of the Game : pass again.
Ref Rating : 1 out of 5. Toledo needed to be a part of the match and he succeeded in making it about him. #fullToledo
I Am Not The Gaffer, But… : might have made the subs earlier, but quality all the same from the centurion gaffer.
In Case You PVR’d It : it was all Toronto for the first 43 minutes, then it was Orlando for the next 30, then it got all Toledo… Yeah watch it.
Kit Spotting : Saw a Nexaca beauty red and white stripe kit outside the ground
Bold Predictions Results :
- Nailed it. Try as he might, Larin did not. Twice.
- Failed it. I’ll give Toledo one of those bookings as justified, but one of them was not.
- Failed it. Toronto didn’t get the third.
Let’s start with Eriq Z playing some stellar defense most of the night. That clear on Kaka was superb and confident… Perez Garcia looks like “evil Giovinco”. Those corners near the end of the match were comical. Felt that if evil Giovinco and real Giovinco collided in a tackle, the universe would collapse upon itself… The most surprising things about Orlando : 1) that was it? 2) the tactical switch in the second half gave them more position and 3) it ended shortly thereafter… Don’t you need to believe that there’s a soundproof office somewhere out there, where Toledo has been berated for his questionable calls on a bi-monthly basis? If not, this is sad… This version of Giovinco is the most dangerous one : short passes, hangs back just a bit, generous ball distribution AND has two goals. It was starting to feel like you could have “goal Seba” or “playmaker Seba” but rarely both… Wasn’t the canopy supposed to protect us from those clouds of flies in the stands? Asking for a friend… Was joking with @allangorman that if Vanney were to get sent off for his 100th game in charge, we should send him a giant red card cake. I’d have easily made it and sent it over… Speaking of cake, bon anniversaire à mon meilleur ami, Benoit Cheyrou (see podcast gags as we’ve only met once. It was at a luggage carousel at Pearson…)…
Player Ratings : Bono 8.5, Hagglund 6, Zavaleta 8, Morrow 7, Beitashour 7.5, Edwards 7 (Cooper N/A), Bradley 6.5, Delgado 6.5, Vazquez 7 (Osorio N/A), Altidore 6.5 (Ricketts N/A), Giovinco 8
Unused Substitutions : Pais, Cheyrou, Mavinga, Endoh
May 5, 2017
Did you catch the yellow card that Bradley got while talking to Toledo after the match? It looked like they were kidding around while shaking hands, but then Toledo pulled out a yellow and looked ready to jokingly pull a red card after. Bradley walked away with a smirk on his face, so I thought it was all in jest. But MLS reported the yellow was for post-game dissent, so it appears to be official.
I don’t what happened there, but I’d say that was a questionable booking to add to your tally for prediction 2!