TFC 2 Colorado 1 - Yeah, but imagine if they didn’t have a superhuman keeper

By: Sam | June 4th, 2007

Scorers:
TFC- Dichio 9′
TFC- Boyens 28′
COL- Gomez 32′

Analysis:
It’s a win, folks, it’s a win. While the first half and a good chunk of the second belonged to us, while we managed fourteen shots, ten of them on target, while we rose from our seats dozens of times, in the end it was Bouna Coundoul who made this game what it was. Holy crap, what a game from him, that’s all I have to say about that.

A fabulous first half from the guys, a record-setting one, as TFC’s official website proudly states, with chance upon chance being created by unparalleled vision and quick thinking. The lack of attacking contribution by the full-backs (except on the first goal!) was well camouflaged by the domination in the midfield, this without Carl Robinson once again. What’s more, while I was tugging my collar nervously due to Srdjan Djekanovic starting in net, I can only applaud the back four for protecting him like a mother bear would her cubs. Three shots on goal, total! The one goal, and then two mediocre shots from well out that the former Whitecap reserve had little to no troubles handling. One area that stuck out as being lackluster in comparison to other matches were the battles on the touchline. Welsh was definitely having trouble not only creating on his side, but also simply producing runs, and there wasn’t enough support to my liking many times.

As for the goals, they were like this. In the ninth, Andrew Boyens, who’s turning into a fantastic young man as opposed to the uncertain noob who started the season, arced a fine ball down the line to Wynne, who took Hernandez by speed and trickiness (I’m still trying to figure out if he nutmegged him or not) and waltzed into the box, where he found the unmissable Danny Dichio, who cranked in his third of the season, unmarked within a handful of yards of the net. Toronto doubled the lead through Boyens on the half-hour mark, the first of his career. Following a weird-ass shot from Goldthwaite that Coundoul punched out for a corner, Ronnie O’Brien’s magnificent corner kick found the isolated head of the 6′4” Kiwi, who made no mistake and placed it straight past the Senegalese keeper who could do nothing but watch, and later do the “God, seriously, guys” arm movement directed towards his teammates. No more than three minutes after rejoicing, the fans were hushed (not for long, mind you) when who else but Conor Casey played a perfect ball down the middle for the lethal Herculez Gomez, who beat Djekanovic on the short side. The same Conor Casey who looked like a 70-year old woman with arthritis when he played with us early in the season, yeah.

That’s that folks, 2-1 the final and no longer in the cellar of the east. Three wins, a draw and five losses, so that means that in the past five we’ve won three. Not too shabby! I’d also like to apologize for my slow posting of late, high school and refereeing kicking my ass, you know how it is.

Player’s grades:
Djekanovic: 5/10 - MLS debut for the 24-year old, quite happy with the win. Neutral performance though, let the goal in on which he maybe could have done better, and otherwise was impeccable on the next-to-nothing he had to deal with.
Boyens: 7 - A goal and an assist from the centre-back. Active in the air and extremely efficient with Brennan, plainly stated in the statistics where Colorado only managed three shots. Cheers!
O’Brien: 6 - His usual self on the side, which means dynamic, agressive and ball-handling. Had a few problems here and there with their full-backs, but also took some great corners, one that resulted in the second goal.
Edu: 4,5 - Quiet. Too quiet. Involved early on, but got a bit lost as the game went on. If he’s going to be the face of the future, he’s got to show that he’s fit to do so.
Welsh: 5,5 - Along the same lines as O’Brien. Some good runs, some questionable ones. Often offering support when needed, and crossed a fair amount of times, but never amounting to anything. Subbed off for Gabe Gala on 66 minutes, who played his first MLS soccer but didn’t stand out at all.
Goldthwaite: 5 - His offensive contribution was lacking, as I said. Solid defense, you can’t deny it however. Consistent, if anything. Sent off on 81 minutes for “abusive language” nowhere near the ball. More on that below.
Dichio: 7 - Present, ever so present once again. Great job with back to the net, and impeccable while finishing Wynne’s work on the first goal. Subbed off for Canizales on 83 minutes, who barely touched the ball.
Brennan: 6,5 - Although wasn’t as flashy as Boyens, did great work to keep the attack at bay. What more can you ask of your captain? Classy and efficient, all the way.
Pozniak: 5,5 - Nothing extraordinary from the young man thankfully not on international duty. Filled the gap more or less well where he was playing and distributed when needed, but otherwise just okay.
Wynne: 7 - The first goal. Nuff said.
Cunningham: 6 - Got a handful of shots and is always in good position, but still can’t buy a goal. Excellent job beating the offside trap. He’ll get one soon.

Colorado Rapids: Just not a great performance from their side. First of all, that Coundoul fella, holy crap. Made saves when I thought we had goals for sure. Hats off. Their defence really couldn’t cope with our guys, Kirovski and Ihemelu looked lost. Wingert was lucky to touch the ball a few times, but that was it. Gomez, the goalscorer, had a decent game, but seemed to give up a bit too easily and was booked for dissent after he clearly committed a foul. Casey, Mastroeni and Beckerman also didn’t play too badly.

Officiating: Can’t say I liked it too much. I can’t really say anything about the sending-off, but it must have been really bad for Goldthwaite to merit what he got. A bit quick on the whistle.

Looking ahead: The scary-ass Red Bulls are next up on Wednesday. They lost against Eddie Johnson this week, but with a guy like Angel you’ve got to be extremely vigilant. Our internationals will be gone, that includes Robinson again. I don’t see why we’d change the starting eleven. Yet I’m still nervous about Angel+Altidore+Mathis vs. Djekanovic, I’m not gonna lie…