BMO Field was a ghost town. Stands were empty and there was no real upper hand of Toronto FC being at home-the fans all season long have been disappointed with the performances and today showed. As the season ends near for both teams, DC are still on the playoff hunt, while Toronto FC are last in the Conference and hopes of a playoff spot diminished months ago.
The first half for both TFC and DC proved to be very scrappy with neither team creating any real chances and with DC containing the majority of the possession with 66% to Toronto’s 44%. McDonald and Jakovic were once again solid at the center of defense with Jakovic defending Amarikwa well in the first twenty minutes of the match. Jakovic’s form has been superb as of late resulting in his recent call up the Canada’s World Cup Qualifiers. Pontius and Pajoy who consist of 3 goals and 3 assists as a pair in the past 4 games of their recent unbeaten streak were able to link up a few times in the match however no real threat was ever posed to Toronto. DC’s first threat came in the 5th minute with a cross by Andy Najar that took a slight deflection which was then parried over the bar by goalkeeper, Kocic. Although DC had the majority of the possession in the first half, United were unable to establish any rhythm of flow to their game. Pajoy found holes in Toronto’s back line but registered no shots on goal to test the goalkeeper. The 9th minute proved to be a little shaky for Korb at left back as the wide player for TFC, Lamb, got a half a yard of space and slid in a driven cross to the oncoming Silva who couldn’t connect cleanly. Bill Hamid did exceptionally well with Silva’s redirection with his own sliding effort putting the ball out of play.
Tactically, DC seemed to sit back too much. With both Lewis Neal and Perry Kitchen playing more defensive roles, Pontius and Nick DeLeon were sometimes left too isolated resulting in many long balls which lost possession quickly. On a more positive note, Chris Pontius was seen taking a more centralized role on the pitch, which proved to be much more effective. Pontius had a few streaking runs through a few TFC challenges resulting in a few free kicks which eventually did not amount to anything dangerous. Perry Kitchen’s first half performance was once again solid finding success in his driven balls out wide to both Korb and Najar. The 24th minute saw DC United have a free kick about 25 yards from goal and Chris Pontius’ effort went just over the crossbar. Another positive for DC was the connection between Korb and DeLeon along the flank however Logan Emory was able to prevent many driven crosses from entering the box. On the other hand, arguably Toronto’s most dangerous threat to date, Amarikwa was substituted off for Wiedeman in the 32nd minute after suffering a injury in the United box. The final key event of the half in the 44th minute, saw DC United’s Lionard Pajoy take a shot after a scramble in front of the net, however his attempt was blocked by Eckersley. Ben Olsen was probably reasonably happy with the amount of possession his team had, but a little reluctant with the lack of offensive tenacity.
Entering into the second half DC looked amongst themselves and wondered who would inject pace and the creative flare back into the squad for the final 45 minutes. Their answer: the trio of Boskovic, Salihi and Santos. DC needed to go for the three points as both the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire will prove to be tough opponents in the coming weeks to close out their season. DC got out on the front foot early with McDonald coming forward and having the guts to take a shot from distance in the 52nd minute but would prove to be no threat at all to the Toronto goalkeeper. A quick screen shot from the game saw fans holding a banner saying “Make us proud again” indicating their discontent with Toronto’s lack of cohesiveness throughout the season-and DC United looked to disappoint the Toronto crowd even more. Boskovic was subbed in for Lewis Neal in the 54th minute in hopes he would give the offensive spark for United to push forward. Pajoy became more attacking minded in the second half as well with Boskovic coming on, holding the ball forward waiting for support to come to his side. Despite the positives that United started to attain, the 61st minute saw excellent play outside of DC’s eighteen yard box and an eventual shot by Johnson which was saved by the diving Bill Hamid. Moments later in the 64th minute, the Albanian Hamdi Salihi entered the match on a straight swap with Lionard Pajoy. Upon his entrance into the game, Jeremy Hall had a wonderful opportunity to slot home the games first goal of the match however his shot was so wide it almost went out for a throw in. As DC began pushing forward, their back line of Najar, McDonald, Jakovic, and Korb were exposed by the hard work of Ryan Johnson (who also committed a few rash tackles on Korb and Najar).
DC continued on the attack as Pontius skied a shot over the bar in the 68th minute that skipped up off the turf. And then DC’s presence suddenly changed: Wiedeman took a shot on a frantic Hamid in the 71st minute, with both McDonald and Jakovic no where to be found. DC began dropping too far back, while TFC were able to almost walk the ball into the box resulting in numerous corners. Toronto was able to spread the ball wide opening up Korb and Najar and playing dangerous balls into Johnson and Silva which saw Bill Hamid continue to work through the onslaught of pressure parrying balls out of his box left and right. And then it was DC United’s turn to pressure Toronto with Ben Olsen’s team running out of time. Ben Olsen injected Maicon Santos into the squad in the 77th minute for Saragosa, fielding a much more attacking team with Salihi, Boskovic and Santos. In the 80th minute Nick DeLeon did expertly with a shot from the outside of his right boot but was right into the arms of Kocic.
The last seven or so minutes of the match proved to be wide open with the game going from defense to attack in a matter of moments for for DC and Toronto. Toronto seemed to be on the front foot when suddenly that all changed. A mistake from Hall in the 88th minute at the half way line proved to be costly as Maicon Santos was able to beat him to the ball, then once again resulting on him firing a shot on frame. The initial shot was saved by Kocic but he made a real meal out of the save as it trickled right to the oncoming Hamdi Salihi who found the back of the net. Salihi’s goal was his 6th of the season, and his 3rd against TFC. Salihi was at the right place at the right time for a real poachers goal. After DC’s 1-0 advantage, four minutes of stoppage time saw Jakovic defend well and Hamid assert himself in the box, as DC was able to escape with three points on the road.
With the win DC United improve to 16-10-6 (54 points) which was good for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference immediately following the game. New York, Chicago and Houston all had games in hand so that second place spot for DC is subject to change after the other games this weekend conclude. My DC Man of the Match is the goalscorer Hamdi Salihi because of his important finish. The Albanian not only was a key substitute by coach Ben Olsen, but worked tirelessly upon his entrance into the game alongside Santos and Boskovic. Salihi proved he was a real poacher and could be counted on to finish when DC needed it most. Three points on the road are huge for United as their unbeaten streak stretches to five, with two big games left in United’s season. DC’s next game is at RFK Stadium on October 20th (7:30pm) which is their last home game of the season.
(image courtesy of Abelimages/Getty Images)
