Toronto FC Head into Break with Scoreless Draw Against Wizards

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Wizards keeper Jimmy Nielsen stops
Chad Barrett from in close
It has been a rare sight for Toronto FC at home this season but the sun was shining and the fans were out in full force at BMO Field to cheer on the Reds as they battled to a 0-0 draw against the Kansas City Wizards.
Despite the draw, TFC (5-4-2) were disappointed with their overall effort and thought they should have come away with the victory.
"I take this as a loss," said coach Preki. “Their goalkeeper made two or three really good saves in the first half, and kept them in the game.”
Preki was also unhappy with the play of his three substitutes – Gabe Gala, Ty Harden and O’Brian White – in the match.
"I was extremely disappointed with our substitutions. I expect the guys who come on to work hard for the group and that was the only part, apart from the result, that I thought was disappointing."
Defender Adrian Cann’s assessment wasn’t as harsh as his coach but thought his team could have had a better result as well.
"We’re definitely disappointed," said Cann. "We expect results, 3 points – anything less than that is disappointing. But we managed to finish with a clean sheet and come away with the one point…all in all I think we did quite well."
TFC remain undefeated in their past 8 matches – 5 league games and 3 Nutrilite Canadian Championship matches – heading into the 3-week long World Cup break. With the point Toronto is alone in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference as they sit 4 points behind both the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew who are tied for the top spot.

Seeing Red
 
Referee Baldomero Toledo holds up the
red card for Nick Garcia
The complexion of the game changed suddenly in the 27th minute when a late challenge on a follow through by TFC midfielder Nick Garcia hit Wizard forward Kei Kamara on the knee.
Kamara went down immediately holding his leg and referee Baldomero Toledo wasted no time in giving Garcia the red card, dropping the Reds down to 10 men early in the game.
Many TFC players felt the call was too harsh including forward Chad Barrett.
 "I don’t think there was any malicious intent on Nick’s part," said Barrett. "His follow through caught it him on the knee. I think it was a foul, maybe a yellow card but I think that’s it."
Late in the first half Barrett was knocked on the chin by the boot of Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad as both players went for the ball but the referee chose not to issue a card of any colour.
"I got stitches on my face," added a frustrated Barrett. "The referee’s going to make decisions, but you just kind of have to live with it.”

Missed Opportunities
Up until the red card, Toronto was dominating the play and certainly had their chances to take the lead but Wizards keeper Jimmy Nielsen came up big each time.
The best chance was in the 8th minute when Dwayne De Rosario knocked the ball ahead to Jacob Peterson who then fired a rising hard shot off the head of Nielsen. The shot left Nielsen momentarily dazed but he quickly shook it off and continued playing..
In the 16th minute a great ball ahead by Cann was run down by Barrett in the box but his shot on goal was stopped by Neilsen and went out for a corner. Then late in the half, a Barrett cross went through to de Guzman who fired a hard shot on goal but once again Nielsen made the save to keep the game scoreless heading into the 2nd half.
Early in the second half, TFC gained some redemption when Wizards midfielder Craig Rocastle was given his 2nd yellow card of the match for a late tackle on de Guzman and subsequently sent off.
With both teams at ten men it was expected that TFC would be able to generate scoring chances but the team failed to play with any urgency and were unsuccessful every time they went up the field. As the game wore on it seemed as though both teams were happy to let the game end in a draw.
The best chances in the 2nd half went to Toronto as well – both off the foot of de Guzman who seemed to be bothered by his hamstring once again as the match wore on.
In the 65th minute, de Guzman carried the ball forward on a 3-on-2 but with De Rosario and White covered, he elected to fire a shot on goal but was again stopped by Nielsen.
In the closing minutes de Guzman came close again when the ball bounced to him at the edge of the box but his volley was a little too strong as it sailed over the net.
Toronto played very well defensively all game and didn’t give the Wizards too many chances. The only real challenge came in the 32nd minute when Wizards defender Ryan Smith fired a high shot on goal but was tipped over the net by a leaping Stefan Frei.
"I thought we did ever so well when we were down a man to contain the pressure that we were under," said De Rosario. “But when we levelled it to 10-to-10, I’m very disappointed in terms of I think we were a little too complacent.”
“But saying that we did have chances and we didn’t really give up too many good scoring chances so which was very good defensively. But offensively we had chances to bury them and we didn’t.”

Photos courtesy of JP Dhanoa

Contact Aman Dhanoa at aman@oyetimes.com

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