The South Stand Report : Toronto v. San Jose

Old San Jose logo with new colours

Old San Jose logo with new colours

What a week.

Controversy, DeRo retiring formally (and properly), FIFA corruption, multiple exhibitions, and to come down from an exciting week of Football…

Toronto v.  San Jose.  Muggy.  In a lightning storm.

A strong argument could’ve been made to stay home.  Hell, a weak one could’ve been successful as well.  But no, as a junkie, the trek was made from bumblef— Brampton to Exhibition.  Please don’t let this be a day of regrets.

Toronto is coming off of a somewhat cohesive match against Portland and a useless exhibition where, much to our delight, some of the kids shone.  I mean they could never get a real start…  Right?

On to the match!

16′ – Giovinco gets the ball at the top of the box,  sidesteps everyone in a San Jose kit and fires a beauty off the cross bar.

22′ – GOAL – beautiful cross finds the diving head of Morrow and “europes” that shit in.  Gorgeous.
ROBINS 1, CLASH 0

23′ – PENALTY – Morgan handball… oh sonova…

23′ – GOAL Wondolowski goes low and right to beat Konopka
ROBINS 1, CLASH 1

34′ – GOAL – poor clearing by San Jose leads to someone poking the ball right onto Creavalle who fires a low ball into the bottom left corner.  This is cray.
ROBINS 2, CLASH 1

66′ – SUB – Jackson in for Creavalle.

71′ –  GOAL –  Cheyrou loops a stunner to Giovinco in the corner who slides an inch perfect low cross onto Moore who side foots it in.  Not a typo.
ROBINS 3, CLASH 1

76′ –  Bradley makes a massive run into the box, chips the keeper but a desperate sliding tackle from a defender keeps it out.

81′ – Giovinco serves another stunner who finds Osorio who has the keeper beat but fires wide and he cannot believe it. Neither could everyone one the replay.

84′ – SUB – Osorio off for Hagglund

84′ – SUB – Moore makes way for Jay Chapman.  Welcome to your long overdue debut sir.

4 mins of extra time

90+1′ – Giovinco catches the keeper way off his line,  has a blast 40 yards out and forces a great stop from the retreating San Jose keeper

90+4′ – Giovinco free kick from just out side the box and hits the corner of the crossbar.  Oh my God…

FULL TIME : TORONTO 3, SAN JOSE 1

Man of the Match : Giovinco

Man of the Match that wasn’t Giovinco : Cheyrou.  Or Creavalle.  Doesn’t matter.

Goat of the Game : Not applicable.

Ref Rating : 4 out of 5.  Hardly noticed him.  Was expecting one of the goals to be offside, but, hey, they weren’t!

Kit Spotting : kid in a minor soccer shirt from Guelph. I seeth with jealousy when local kids have nicer kits than Toronto does. Broad red and white stripes.  Total class.

I Am Not The Gaffer But…  : Chapman could’ve come on earlier.  Otherwise, well done.

In Case You PVR’d It : It was good.  Watch it all.

Half time they played a video highlighting the career of Dwayne DeRosario, which was spectacular. He was a homegrown star in a league desperate for them.  They announced that at 3pm on June 20, before the NYCFC match, there would be a testimonial match for DeRo.  Now I know that historically, testimonials were fund raisers for players that long served the club, and the money raised was through ticket sales.  However, this match is free with the ticket v NYCFC, so out loud speculation is that there should be some buckets for DeRo’s favourite charities or projects.  I have no problem putting in $20 for that.  Also, SELL ME A SCARF WITH HIS FACE ON IT FOR CHARITY TOO! #scarfnerd

If Giovinco had scored, I would have had to come up with a new player ratings system.  He was beyond incredible today… Also, did you see who made the score sheet?  This was almost a night where those invisible or underperforming got on the score sheet!  Luke Moore (invisible), Creavalle (lost but turning a corner) and nearly Osorio (almost doesn’t fit).  My heart did bleed a little for Osorio on that miss… The San Jose kits looked awesome wet.  It looked like a gradient effect from the dark shoulders down to the royal blue torso…  This.  This was a great match.  Sure, rubbing it in to those who may be afraid of some rain, but this was some pretty football. #noRegrets… San Jose were largely non-threatening most of the game.  They had a few opportunities, but very little came of them… Kinda felt Toronto FC ‘Man of the Match’ committee was having a laugh awarding Perquis.  Understandibly, this would become the Giovinco award, but Perquis contributed not as much as others did.  Not sure what they were watching… Congratulations to Inverness Caledonian Thistle for winning the Scottish FA Cup.  Quality match with quality drama.

Player Ratings : Konopka 6; Morgan 6.5, Zavaleta 6.5, Perquis 6.5, Morrow 7.5; Cheyrou 7, Osorio 6 (Hagglund N/A), Creavalle 7 (Jackson N/A), Bradley 7; Moore 7.5 (Chapman N/A), Giovinco 9. #TFCLive

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. What a ridiculously fun day at BMO – well, once they let us into the seats and we didn’t have to hang out under the stands. But a truly fun game to watch that was one of the best performances I’ve seen from them in a very long while. Complete games from 1-11, with Seba the far and away the standout but followed by Morrow, Bradley, Creavalle and Morgan.

    Very pleased to see Warren C have a strong game and be in the position he actually plays. It’s a novel concept but perhaps one that just might work going forward. Anyway, he did a pretty good job filling in for Collen Warner as the holding winger.

    Morgan was very strong (handball notwithstanding) and sent in a couple of really nice crosses – good to see this version of the Nasty Left Back.

    I would like Bradley to stop taking corner kicks; it’s painful. And really my main complaint on the day – other than those agonising misses (Oso).

    But hey – super fun game to be at – feels odd to be happy this many hours later – but hey, change can be a good thing, right?

    Post a Reply
    • Well let’s not gush too much about the Reds, it is not our form and there are plenty of weaknesses glaring that could, would and should have bitten the team yesterday. Possession, shots and passing are still down, all categories were better at full time but the team needs to be more consistent through the game. There was a point in the second half that it was statistically and to the eye, ugly for the Reds The Reds were strong up until that first goal and then after Jackson was subbed on and Bradley started to drop back into the 5 mids set. And that formation change took time to be implemented as well.

      While Bradley’s decisions to stay or go ran TFC’s play, It came down to Wondo and Giovinco. And oh yeah there was Moore moving those legs. 🙂

      Zavaleta has settled the D. Bob’s your uncle that is nepotism at work!

      Post a Reply
      • But I gush so rarely! I’m by no means ready to call this sorted – the team still has lots of work to do and as Mark said yesterday; we’re no where near forgiving them yet, one good performance doesn’t erase the last couple of years (let alone 8).

        And I did notice Bradley dropping back more which was bugging me to no end – they need to convince him to stay up.

        Consistency will always be the key and that’s something that has always lacked for Toronto. And yes, Unkie Greg is allowed a little leeway on the nepotism – I’m looking at Zavaleta over Hagglund for the foreseeable future.

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  2. I noticed after the match that there was way more happy faces. Some people seemed genuinely pleased with the result, and there was a fun atmosphere. Is it possible that fun is coming back to BMO, a la 2007-10? Let’s hope so!

    Post a Reply
    • I think the fun could potentially be coming back – the three week layoff and lack of home matches may dull things a bit. Then 3 games in a week (at home) and then just the one home game in July – MLS scheduling is super fun.

      But yes, was nice to leave feeling content instead of frustrated and angry was a nice change of pace. Plus getting to meet such infamous folk as yourself!

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  3. I don’t know if you noticed, but former Robin Tracy Morgan came on as an injury time sub for Falkirk.

    As much as I like to complain about the game times it works out really well for the UK audience. Scottish Cup led into FA Cup which led into a night cap of TFC. Top it off with a serving of curry and you’re got a solid day.

    Post a Reply
    • I missed that completely! Very cool.

      Seemed like a pretty great day for you. Nice pics too!

      Post a Reply

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