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Toronto FC at New York Red Bulls: Matchday Commentary

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Good afternoon everybody. Toronto FC is at Giants Stadium today to take on the New York Red Bulls in a key Eastern Conference clash. The winner today moves into playoff position while the loser falls into the trailing pack in the rugged East.

I will be providing running commentary for today’s match so be sure to stay tuned to SBI for the latest on the action. If you will be watching the match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the match.

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FINAL- That’s all for now. Check back in later for more on the match and thanks, as always, for following the match here. Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on the match in the comments section below.

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FINAL– Red Bulls put on a masterful performance in the second half, controlling the play despite being a man down. They are now tied for fourth place in the East with D.C. United, and more importantly, now hold one of the eight playoff spots in MLS.

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FINAL- Red Bulls 2, Toronto FC 0. And if you can believe it, this marks the Red Bulls FIRST two-game winning streak of the season.

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93rd minute- GOAL RED BULLS. Angel finishes a tap-in after Richards is released down the right flank by Jorge Rojas. Beautiful goal. Red Bulls 2, Toronto FC 0.

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90th minute- There will be three minutes of stoppage time.

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88th minute– Red Bulls are standing firm as TFC scrambles.

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84th minute– Red Bulls with two subs still to use, you wonder when Osorio will use them.

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83rd minute– If it seems like the Red Bulls aren’t losing anything in their attack despite being a man down, part of the reason is because Juan Pietravallo is doing the work of two players in defensive midfield. He is camping out in front of the defense and doing a great job of stopping plays.

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81st minute– Chad Barrett sends a hard shot a foot wide of the net. You can hear the "Fire Reject" chants coming from Section 101.

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80th minute– Johann Smith forces a corner.

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76th minute– Set piece opportunity for TFC but nobody can get to the corner kick.

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74th minute– Toronto has plenty of attackers, but no creators, on the field. It will be interesting to see where their chances will come from, if any will come in these final 16 minutes.

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71st minute– Toronto will definitely be trying to spring Johann Smith on the left flank. He is pushing up quite a bit, with Seth Stammler at right back now.

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70th minute– Today’s attendance: 11,119

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70th minute– Pietravallo is having a game today.

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66th minute– Dangerous free kick for TFC is cleared out of danger for a TFC corner.

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62nd minute– Richards in for Sassano, good sub to give the Red Bulls some speed to keep TFC honest.

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61st minute– Looks like Dane Richards is coming into the match.

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59th minute– Red Bulls knocking the ball around well here and I’m liking what I’m seeing from Magee and Pietravallo.

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57th minute– For those who have lost track, TFC has used all its subs already (Dichio, Smith and Smith).

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55th minute– Red Bulls are basically playing a 4-4-1 now and Toronto has yet to get numbers forward to take advantage of the man advantage.

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51st minute– Johann Smith with his first contribution, blowing by Luke Sassano but sendind his shot/cross wide. His reputation is of being all speed/no skill so that play isn’t a surprise.

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50th minute– Toronto should find chances here, assuming its midfield can create some.

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49th minute– Red Bulls also slide Dave Van Den Bergh to left back for a four-man back-line.

Jarrod Smith has come in for Dichio, who was making just his second appearance since returning from a concussion.

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47th minute– Cichero elbowed Dichio in the face and has been ejected. That is a costly ejection considering Jeff Parke has already left the match. Look for Boyens to slide into central defense and Luke Sassano to play right back.

Looks like Johann Smith came in at halftime for Laurent Robert. So much for concerns about his fitness.

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46th minute- RED CARD FOR CICHERO

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46th minute– We’re back and Danny Dichio is in for Abdus Ibrahim.

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HALFTIME– For those wondering if we will see Johann Smith today. I am hearing that he might bet in late but that his fitness is a concern and he managed just one training session with the team, on Saturday.

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HALFTIME– Toronto FC is struggling to create chances and the absence of Amado Guevara (and Maurice Edu) is evident. Abdus Ibrahim is trying to pick up the playmaking slack but he can’t get the ball either. TFC is resorting to long balls, which would work if Chad Barrett were at all a true target forward.

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HALFTIME– Red Bulls 1, Toronto FC 0.

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45th minute– Chad Barrett having slightly less luck today than he had the last time he played at Giants Stadium, the Chicago Fire’s 5-1 win against the Red Bulls.

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45th minute– Yellow cards for Van Den Bergh and Attakora-Gyan.

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44th minute– For those keeping score at home, that goal is Magee’s 21st career goal in 121 career games for the Red Bulls/MetroStars. It also marks the first time in his MLS career that he has scored in two straight games.

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42nd minute– Perhaps the most interesting thing about Magee scoring today is the fact that there were rumors circulating that Magee was headed to Toronto in a trade.

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39th minute– Great decision by Juan Pablo Angel on that play to let the pass run by him.

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37th minute- GOAL RED BULLS. Mike Magee with the finish after a LONG pass from Stammler.

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34th minute– Boyens with a yellow already. Not a good card to get this early.

Parke left the match with a sprained right ankle.

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31st minute– For those of you wondering where Amado Guevara is for Toronto FC, he is serving the second game of a two-game suspension for elbowing FC Dallas midfielder Pablo Richetti in the face.

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28th minute– Boyens should be able to handle himself now but you have to wonder how he will deal with the speed of Johann Smith if and when Smith comes into this match.

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26th minute– Andrew Boyens comes in for Jeff Parke, who has left with a leg injury.

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24th minute– Conway with a nice save on a header.

Toronto definitely has the speed to trouble the Red Bulls back-line. It’s just a matter of getting a good pass to their attackers.

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21st minute– Sutton bobbles a save on an Angel shot, which goes out for a corner. Sutton has come up with a good save today but looks a bit off.

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19th minute– Angel runs onto a great Rojas pass and forces a tough save from Sutton, the rebound goes begging. Goldthwaite misses the subsequent header off the corner.

Red Bulls pressuring but no goals yet.

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17th minute– Here is Toronto’s bench:

Brian Edwards, Tyler Hemming, Marvell Wynne, Tyler Rosenlund, Danny Dichio, Jarrod Smith and Johann Smith.

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16th minute– Red Bulls with the better looks early as Toronto struggles to keep the ball.

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14th minute– A great pass just misses Angel. That would have been a goal on grass.

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12th minute– Ibrahim is spending a lot of time in almost an attacking midfielder position.

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10th minute– The player to watch for from Toronto is Abdus Ibrahim. The young speedster could cause problems today.

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8th minute– Shaky moment from Sutton and Magee nearly makes him pay.

Marvell Wynne is at the game, but starting out on the bench. No, Maurice Edu is not here. I would imagine he is in Scotland.

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7th minute– Red Bulls are fielding the same starting lineup that thrashed D.C. United, 4-1 last week.

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5th minute– For those wondering, here is the Red Bulls bench:

Patterson-Sewell, Boyens, Mendes, Borman, Richards, Ubiparipovic and Wolyniec. So yes, Dane Richards is dressed and may play today.

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2nd minute– And we’re underway.

PRE-GAME– Here is Toronto’s lineup-

———Ibrahim——–Barrett————

Robert—–Robinson—Harmse—-Ricketts

Brenna——James—–Velez–Attakora Gyan

——————–Sutton————————

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PRE-GAME– Here are the lineups:

RED BULLS

———————-Angel——————

———————-Magee—————–

Van Den Bergh——Rojas——–Sassano

———–Pietravallo—–Stammler——–

Goldthwaite——Cichero———-Parke

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Comments

  1. kpugs, I’ll give you a pass on this one because I normally enjoy your comments and can tell you’re a real supporter.

    I guess you could call my comments a joke though spending big gas $ for a 2 hour ride in the car to see a team that has mostly sucked since 1996 isn’t very funny. But me and members of my family and anyone else we can recruit take the trek (almost every game) and support this team. If that makes me a sellout, then I’m a sellout I guess. Maybe I’m stupid too, or just plain desperate for professional soccer. It’s interesting you would criticize one of the few people who have supported the team from the start. How many were there today that weren’t TFC supporters, 5,000?

    Reply
  2. I’m not even going to pretend I am confident in my team. But these last two wins fell very, very good.

    Neumannator, it is a worthwhile trip EVERY HOME GAME for me. Are you trying to sound cool because you came once, or just lightly joking on the team? I know this team isn’t that good. But I have never insinuated than any of the home games I’ve been to WEREN’T worthwhile. And that goes back to the first game ever in 1996. Choose your words carefully, sellout.

    Reply

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