This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
Canada: 
Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
Red-Hot Danny Koevermans Header Lifts TFC to 1-0 Victory
Toronto FC kept its hopes alive in CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) with an important 1-0 win at home against Panamanian club Tauro F.C at BMO Field. Just like Saturday, striker Danny Koevermans was once again the hero for the Reds as he headed in another winning goal to lift his team to victory.
The Tauro team that TFC played on Tuesday night looked very different from the one they defeated 2-1 in Panama City in the first match of the group stage. Since that game the Panamanian club has tied FC Dallas and Pumas and looked better than the team that got outplayed by TFC.
“I think the 1-0 victory was a very good victory because we played against an opponent that was completely different from the first time we played against them in Panama City,” said Head Coach and Technical Director Aron Winter.
“In the first half, even when we weren’t playing well, we scored two goals….This evening they showed also they can play football. Technically they’re very good. We played well against them.”
The game was not the prettiest and most exciting to watch but Winter employed the same defensive strategy that worked over the weekend. On Saturday, TFC frustrated defending MLS Cup Champions, Colorado Rapids, by playing with four defenders and designated player and captain Torsten Frings as a sweeper. He protected the centre back liabilities that are Andy Iro and Ty Harden and sometimes made himself look like a fifth defender to resemble a 5-2-3 formation.
“You can choose to play 4-3-3 with him (Frings) between the two central defenders but we’re always watching the strengths of the opponents,” said Winter. “In the first half especially, my central defenders went wide and he’s the guy [in the middle] that you can play always and he’s calm and comfortable on the ball.”
The defensive strategy may not have been as necessary against less clinical club like Tauro but the team played the game safe and with spot in the quarterfinals at stake it was a very necessary game plan for Winter. So in the end it might not have produced exciting football, but once again it got the job done – a victory and an important three points in the competition. So does Winter plan on using this tactic for the rest of the season?
Added Winter, “It depends on how the opponent is playing and if you can play him between the central defenders, but he’s a midfielder…..It’s an option, he can play in that role and he can play it well.”
As for Frings’ opinion on playing the sweeper role – he doesn’t mind at all as long as it helps his team win.
“The main change back there is that, it’s not as much running but more organizational where I have to organize the defence,” said Frings through a translator. “And I feel it’s been an easier position than in the midfield but I feel that the team is playing great right now and they’ve been scoring lots of goals in front and he’s happy with everything that is going on.”
”I feel right now that it gives the team some security back there, and of course, I don’t mind playing it. But I see myself in the future playing his midfield position that I’m used to. Whatever the coach wants me to play that’s where I will play.”
Head Games
As mentioned earlier, this game was not very entertaining and neither team was able to create many scoring chances. The TFC defence was great throughout the match but did have one momentary lapse on the backline on a set piece in the first half.
In the 33rd minute off a corner kick, the ball was flicked into the box where midfielder Victor Mendieta headed the ball off the left upright, narrowly missing out on putting his team ahead.
TFC were able to open the scoring a short while later in the 40th minute and developed off a poor clearing attempt. The play started in the midfield where defender Ashtone Morgan passed the ball wide left to forward Ryan Johnson who then put a cross into the box. The ball was then knocked away by a Tauro defender, but high in the air. The ball came down to TFC midfielder Peri Marosevic who headed it towards goal. Koevermans managed to stay onside and out jumped the goalkeeper Alvaro Anzola and headed the ball inside the far post. Anzola hit Koevermans in the head on the play and he stayed down for a while. His teammates came sliding to where he was laying to celebrate his goal, but he was ok and stayed in the game.
“I saw the keeper coming so I just jumped and it touched my head before his hand, so it went in,” said Koevermans. “I thought it was offside, but when I fell down I looked at the linesman, and I saw the ref running to the middle line so I knew it was a goal.”
Marosevic and Koevermans nearly connected for another goal in the second half. Marosevic swung the ball into the box from the right flank with Koevermans rushing in, but the Dutch striker knocked the ball just wide and off the outside netting.
Koevermans is red-hot at the moment having scored two goals on Saturday against Colorado and now has three tallies in two games. The Dutch striker was named MLS Player of the Week on Monday, but wasn’t buying the hype and admitted that he hasn’t really put much thought into his recent accomplishments.
“No, but you guys keep saying it all the time. Having this many goals in that many games, I don’t mind that, I just want to play,” said Koevermans. “Now I’m playing and I’m trying to be important to the team by scoring goals.”
He also knows how the media can turn on him and ask the opposite if he were to suddenly fall into a slump.
“Now it’s working, and hopefully not, but maybe there will be a time that it won’t work, and you guys will say you have zero goals in eight games. I know how it works, but right now I’m just enjoying my stay here. I love winning, and today my goal made us win, so it’s even nicer, but still this is a team sport. We did it together today, and I think it was a great job from every guy that was on the pitch today.”
TFC and its fans had a nervous moment when substitute Matt Stinson was issued a yellow card for a challenge just outside the box in extra time. However, the freekick from Tauro was knocked away by the wall and the referee immediately blew his whistle to end the game.
The win temporarily lifted TFC to six points overall, within a point of Group C leader FC Dallas and two points ahead of Mexican side Pumas. Both of those clubs play each other on Wednesday evening to complete the fourth set of games in the group stage. A win by the Hoops would essentially clinch its spot in the quarterfinals. The Reds will still need to win its last home game against Pumas next Tuesday to help solidify its spot in the knockout round. The game from BMO Field will kickoff at 8pm ET.
Before that match, however, TFC will need to shift its focus back to MLS with yet another must win match. The club heads to the west coast to play Chivas USA on Saturday night with kickoff at 1030pm ET.
To follow me on twitter click HERE
Also available on iTunes
Contact Aman Dhanoa at aman@oyetimes.com
Be the first to comment