Columbus 2 TFC 2 - This is what You Get when You Blink for a Fraction of a Second

By: Sam | May 27th, 2007

Scorers:
CLB- Herron 2′
TFC- Dichio 27′
CLB- Herron 36′
TFC- Brennan 49′

Analysis:
What a disappointment. If anyone disagrees with the fact that Toronto definitely could have come away with three points, I invite you to state why. In this first away game after scoring and winning, I felt for the whole game like a goal was coming, and in the case of most of our breaks and chances, it didn’t. Columbus, on the other hand, got goals out of nothing, read bad plays from our defense. They were like this:

Andy Herron, fresh off a four-game suspension, profited from abysmal marking from our backline and came in on Sutton on a fast break, then put away a decent shot that Toronto’s keeper sort of handled but still gave away a bit too easily. Twenty-five minutes later, Danny Dichio got his second of the season on a pass from the n00b Jeff Cunningham while he was devoid of any marking himself, and slid a clinically precise shot that Gruenebaum could have done better on, but nevertheless a very good goal, and more importantly an equalizer. The third goal, the Crew’s second, albeit prettier than the first, was still aided in large part by slack marking from the boys in red. Schelotto heeled a very crafty pass to Grabavoy, whose shot was well saved by Sutton but right at the feet of Herron, who easily put away his second with no one around to render him nervous one bit. That was the scoreline at half, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. On a TFC free kick 30 yards out, who else but Jim Brennan finally got a reward for a great start to the season on a bloody beautiful strike, which the keeper didn’t see till the last second, and it was over and behind him.

As I said, it would have made much more sense for us to have gotten three points of out of this, but all things considered, it being an away game, a few days after a friendly against Benfica, against a side who had lost last time around to New York by the hefty line of 4-0, I’m more happy with the lads than frustrated. The attacks virtually always came close to goal, as opposed to being shut down all the time like before. Of course, Gruenebaum made a few good saves, a few went wide, a few were offside, Cunningham hit the post, so on and so forth. Here’s how the individualistics were concerned.

Player’s grades:
Sutton: 4,5/10 - The first goal was bad, the second he could do nothing about since had already made a decent save. Made a few other saves but looked wobbly and bobbled the ball a few times.
Reda: 4 - Didn’t help much on the first goal when he fell down like a moron for no reason, and otherwise didn’t get involved with play and was quiet while defending.
O’Brien: 4,5 - What happened? No explosiveness and no cracker shots like we previously saw. Still recognizable on his wing, but everyone expects more from him.
Edu: 5 - Same goes for Maurice, who was indecisive sometimes. Orchestrated play more or less well up front, but nothing spectacular.
Welsh: 6,5 - How involved was he in the first half? Blazing runs up and down, very visible. Died down a bit in the second half, but still an impressive match all-around.
Goldthwaite: 7 - Really, really good. Playing in the midfield in this one, he was everywhere, tackling and moving up to cross and distribute. Best game for him so far.
Dichio: 6 - Impeccable goal, and a solid first half, but a forgettable second. A few times, you just wondered what he was up to. Nice work overall. Subbed off for Buddle on 87 minutes, who didn’t do much.
Brennan: 7,5 - Has to be one of the MVPs of the league so far. Aside from his stunning goal, he was always back and helping out his sub-par defensive mates. Brilliant.
Pozniak: 6 - Very satisfactory for the guy’s first start. Fouled a bit here and there and picked up a silly caution, but very calm and acute otherwise.
Wynne: 3,5 - Didn’t use his speed as much as we would have liked him to. Marking was shite on both goals. Has got to do much better.
Cunningham: 7 - Always in the right place at the right time, just had trouble finishing. Set up Dichio’s goal nicely. I just have one bone to pick with him, and that’s for him to wear a normal shirt number.

Columbus Crew: Not a bad game, but they were lucky to get the two goals. Full marks to Herron for being there when he needed to. Subbed off early for an injury, his replacement, Virtuoso, just plain sucked. Schelotto really impressed me, as did Grabavoy. I’ve never seen anyone whine more than Moreno, even though he was right many times. And this guy Miglioranzi? What the hell did he do? I swear the announcers didn’t say his name once.

Officiating: Not too good. Although Mr. Salazar called many fouls in our favour, I have to say I wasn’t impressed (happy, yes, but not impressed). The three bookings were undisputable (except for the fact that the league has issued the yellow to Brennan when it was quite clearly Pozniak who had commited the offense). Lots of times, though, he called fouls on harmless plays and gave Toronto the benefit of the doubt on 50-50 infractions.

Looking ahead: It is the Colorado Rapids on Saturday at BMO Field next. These Rapids are second in the Western Conference behind Dallas, and won 1-0 to the Galaxy this weekend. Herculez Gomez is a potential assassin, so having Carl Robinson back will definitely help our frail defense. Otherwise, I am suggesting taking out Wynne and trying Canizales out once again. Agree? Disagree?