Defeated Sound-ly – Toronto FC Knock Off Seattle 2-0

This article was last updated on May 19, 2022

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TFC Captain Dwayne De Rosario
Toronto – It wasn’t the best playing conditions but the wind and rain didn’t seem to slow down Toronto FC as they silenced the Seattle Sounders 2-0 while sporting their new white kits for the first time at BMO Field in front of 18,394 fans.
Dwayne De Rosario was again named Man of the Match as he led Toronto to victory, scoring one goal and setting up the other by O’Brian White, marking the first goal by a player other than De Rosario.
 
“More guys scoring the better it is,” said De Rosario. “To get the two goal comfort was definitely important and thankfully we were able to get another guy on the score sheet and hopefully it trickles down to the rest of the team.”
 
After much speculation, Coach Preki did decide to start the tandem of Chad Barrett and White upfront and dropped De Rosario back to the midfield. The decision paid off as Toronto put together by far their best game of the season.
 
Julian De Guzman also dazzled in the midfield as he demonstrated his deft skills numerous times in the game as he spun and dribbled the ball past Seattle defenders to make forward passes.
Preki acknowledged that the team is putting in the effort and starting to build some chemistry resulting in some of their best football of the year thus far.
 
 “Overall I thought the commitment of the group was superb,” said Preki. “I thought they worked really hard for each other. When you’re committed, a lot of times good things happen and today good things happened for us.”
 
De Rosario echoed the coach’s sentiments and thought the team played a complete game for the first time this season.
“Every game we played in spurts, we play a good 45 or a second good 45 but I think today we played a good 90 minutes and its real good to see. Most importantly it’s good to see every guy wanting the ball and working for each other – defensively right to the offence.”
 
But Preki still sees plenty of room for improvement.
“I wasn’t really happy how we started the second half. In all fairness we gave Seattle chances and Stefan (Frei) makes one or two important saves to keep us in. But I was would like us to be more disciplined, when we’re up 2-0 and all of a sudden we’re throwing six guys forward and leaving the whole field open. Well, it’s going to take a little bit of time for us to learn, "but we can’t be that naïve.”

Physical Start
The game got off to a rough start when Toronto midfielder Martin Saric delivered a nasty challenge to forward Freddie Ljungberg in the 7th minute and inexplicably was not given a card on the play by the referee Jorge Gonzalez.
Saric came running in at full speed and lunged at Ljungberg who toppled over him and lay down on the field for a couple of minutes.
 
In the 10th minute, TFC nearly capitalized on a Seattle turnover when White drove a hard shot at Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller who dove to make the save. The play proved to be the best scoring chance for either team in the first half.
Saric was at it again in the 14th minute when he made another poor challenge, this time on midfielder Nathan Sturgis. Although this challenge was a borderline booking, Saric was given a yellow card – perhaps the referee was making up for the previous non-call.
In the 17th minute Maksim Usanov delivered a late challenge prompting Ljungberg to come running in to yell at Usanov. Ljungberg was clearly frustrated and upset with the quality of tackles made by TFC defenders up until this point.
Overall, Seattle had played the better half, controlling the ball and dictating the play but only managing a couple of chances that were directed just over the TFC net. But Toronto had the lone shot on goal.

Game Opens Up in 2nd Half
Seattle came out fired up in the second half and nearly got the game’s first goal in the 49th minute when Ljungberg put ahead a great through ball to Sturgis who fired a shot on target but was stopped by TFC keeper Stefan Frei who made a great foot save, his first real challenge of the match.
In the 55th minute, Ljungberg launched a corner into the box and the ball was knocked around by both teams and produced some nervous reactions from the crowd before the ball was eventually cleared away by TFC.
 
TFC celebrate first goal
In the 58th minute, Sounders midfielder Osvaldo Alonso carelessly fumbled the ball in the box and De Rosario managed to steal the ball away and fire a brilliant shot past a diving Keller into the right side of the net. The goal was De Rosario’s 5th of the season.
Three minutes later, Sounders midfielder Brad Evans comes close when he streaks in to gather a great through ball from substitute Steve Zakuani but Frei shuts the door again as he comes out to challenge Evans to make another great save.
Sounders defender Tyrone Marshall gives up the ball in the 76th minute and is then kicked ahead by Toronto. De Rosario runs down the ball and draws in a defender before passing off to his left to an open White who fires the ball around Keller to give TFC a 2-0 lead.
In the 83rd minute, Ljungberg, deep inside the box, passes ahead to Fredy Montero who fired the ball directly at Frei, but he makes a great save to keep Seattle off the score sheet and give his team the victory.
With the win Toronto improves to 2-3-0 on the season while Seattle falls to 2-2-2.
TFC will now take on the Montreal Impact on Wednesday night at 7:30pm in the opening match of Nutrilite Canadian Championship at BMO Field.

Click here to view more photos from the game

Click here to read "Ljungberg Sounds Off After Loss to TFC"

Contact Aman Dhanoa at aman@oyetimes.com

Photos courtesy of Annandi Merhai of Devi Designs
 

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