Good evening folks. The New York Red Bulls take on Toronto FC tonight in a game with plenty of sub-plots and the promise of some serious excitement.
From the Red Bulls likely having Juan Pablo Angel and Jozy Altidore together for the first time this season, to Amado Guevara facing the Red Bulls for the first time since being traded by them after the 2006 season, tonight’s match should have great drama along with the unmatched atmosphere at BMO Field, where a sold-out crowd is expected.
I will be spending time before and during the match with Toronto FC fans for a story on the game-day experience here so I won’t be doing a running commentary until the second half. Since I know many of you will be watching the match on ESPN2 please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and play-by-play on the match in the comments section below.
Enjoy the match and be sure to check in on SBI throughout the evening and check out the pre-game coverage as well.
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POST-GAME– I highly recommend a Toronto road trip to all MLS fans. If your team is playing here you should find a way here. Sure, you’ll be outnumbered 20,000 to 20, but the atmosphere is great. The fans are knowledgeable and energetic throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and definitely see why BMO Field is a tough place to play for opposing teams.
That’s all for tonight folks. Thanks for following along and stay tuned for more stories on my trip to Toronto on Friday.
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FINAL- Red Bulls 1, Toronto FC 1. A fair result. The Red Bulls were organized and had a good amount of possession while Toronto FC’s defense was solid again, though its offense is starting to leave us with some questions about its effectiveness. I will say that the fans at BMO Field are amazing.
Marvell Wynne was just named man of the match and given a trophy. Apparently someone forgot about Marco Velez. He gets my vote for Man of the Match.
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91st minute– Wolyniec in for Altidore. Three minutes of stoppage.
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90th minute– Kudos to the Toronto defendse for getting two defenders on Altidore every time he touches the ball. The kid has no room to operate.
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87th minute– The long balls to Cunningham aren’t going to work tonight. Toronto needs to feed Edu and Guevara, who can slip Cunningham passes on the run. Cunningham’s speed will be a problem for Parke and Goldthwaite, but only if he gets the ball in a good position.
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84th minute– Cunningham coming in for Dichio, probably about 10 minutes too late.
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80th minute– Freeman has looked good today, no complaints about him. I wonder how Angel plays, it looks like he’s ready to go 90.
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79th minute– This is the time in the game when Altidore usually makes something happen. He almost did with that cross.
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78th minute– Ubi with a nice play on Edu, drawing applause for Osorio.
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76th minute– Edu streaks in unmarked and nearly gets to a nice pass in the box. Stammler came in late but I’m pretty sure that was Ubi’s mark. I wonder if Osorio uses his last sub to get him off the field.
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75th minute– Jarrod Smith in for Rohan Ricketts. I can’t say I was overly impressed with Ricketts today. Some decent tricks but nothing too special.
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70th minute– There’s Ubiparipovic, getting in late and drawing a yellow for a foul on Edu. Osorio is definitely regretting putting Ubi in this match.
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68th minute– Looks like Sinisa’s job is to keep tabs on Maurice Edu, which he’s not doing a good job of lately. Edu is definitely pushing forward more in the attack.
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66th minute– Sinisa Ubiparipovic is being read the riot act by Juan Carlos Osorio. Not sure what Upiparipovic did but he looks a bit lost out there.
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64th minute– Still waiting for Dane Richards to make his presence felt in his debut. A tough game to be thrown into, but his speed can make things happen. The real question is who will get him the ball.
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62nd minute– Amado Guevara has been active tonight but I don’t know if his teammates are making themselves available for him. Robert and Ricketts need to run a little more to get into position to receive service. I would put Jeff Cunningham in this match ASAP if I were John Carver.
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61st minute– Angel has seemed off tonight. Other than his great header that missed by inches high, he looks a tad rusty. Toronto is also doing a good job on him.
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60th minute– I’ve been impressed with Marvell Wynne tonight. He has pretty much locked down Danleigh Borman.
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59th minute– A pretty even match so far although I feel as if the Red Bulls have had slightly better possession and chances.
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PRE-GAME– It’s a late-arriving crowd here at BMO Field, which is to be expected for a 7pm game on a Thursday night, but the crowd is definitely filing in. I will be heading down to sit with the Red Patch Boys and U Sector in the first half to take in the gameday fan experience. It should be interesting.
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PRE-GAME– Looking at that Red Bulls lineup, I think we are more likely to see a formation like this one:
Borman————Angel————-Altidore
——————–Magee———————
————Reyna——-Stammler————
Van Den Bergh———————-Freeman
———Goldthwaite——-Parke———–
——————-Conway——————–
I recall the Red Bulls rolling out a similar look earlier in the year and the trio of Borman, Angel and Altidore would force Toronto to keep numbers back, specifically Marvell Wynne, who has been a great threat on the right flank for Toronto.
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PRE-GAME- Here is Toronto FC’s lineup:
—————-Dichio———————-
Robert———Guevara———-Ricketts
———-Edu————Robinson———
Brennan—-Velez——Marshall—-Wynne
——————Sutton——————–
BENCH– Edwards, James, Harmse, Dunivant, Smith, Tebily, Cunningham
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PRE-GAME– Here is the Red Bulls lineup:
———–Angel——–Altidore————
Borman——————————-Magee
———–Reyna——-Stammler———-
Van Den Bergh———————-Freeman
———–Goldthwaite—Parke————–
——————-Conway———————
BENCH– Thornton, Brunner, Wolyniec, Richards, Sassano, Megaloudis, Ubiparipovic
Chris Leitch is out with a left knee injury he suffered during the San Jose game. Carlos Mendes is also out with a left quad injury suffered in training earlier this week.