Top Stories

Toronto FC suffer major setback with loss to Dynamo

Defoe misses PK by Tom Szczerbowski USA TODAY Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports

By RYAN TOLMICH

With just three games remaining in the Major League Soccer season, Toronto FC’s playoff aspirations received a major dent due to the steady hands of Tyler Deric.

The Houston Dynamo goalkeeper stopped a Jermain Defoe penalty kick in the 55th minute as the Dynamo held on to pick up a 1-0 victory off a first-half Giles Barnes finish.

Deric’s save appeared to be a major turning point, as Dynamo defender AJ Cochran was issued a red card for his penalty-conceding foul on TFC’s Luke Moore. However, with Defoe shooting for what might have been TFC’s season, Derric dove to his right to save the penalty kick and preserve the Dynamo lead.

The game’s lone goal came in the 35th minute via Barnes, who outmuscled TFC defender Nick Hagglund to get in alone on goal to give his side the 1-0 advantage.

The Dynamo forward broke his way down the right sideline by shrugging off Hagglund before corralling the ball and darting on net. Barnes then smashed a shot between the legs of goalkeeper Joe Bendik to give his side what ended up being the game-winning goal.

Barnes’ finish proved to be the difference due to the spectacular play of both goalkeepers, as Derric and Bendik finished with six and five saves, respectively.

The Dynamo maintain a glimmer of hope when it comes to playoff qualification, as Wednesday’s victory pulls the club within four points of the fifth-place Columbus Crew. Meanwhile, Toronto FC failed to take advantage of having a game in hand and remain three points adrift of fifth-place.

TFC will have a chance to regain that ground Saturday, when they travel to Harrison, New Jersey, to take on the fourth-place New York Red Bulls, while the Dynamo look to continue their push Sunday against conference-leading D.C. United.

Here are the match highlights:

Comments

  1. I am consistently amused by TFC and their self-righteous, haughty fans. I hope they never make the playoffs.

    MLS bent over backwards for them this winter & they are still a mismanaged mess.

    Reply
    • The difference is that Dempsey came to the Sounders with the season half over which is always tough. Toronto had their Stars from the beginning of the season

      Reply
      • The other difference is that Seattle already had a strong team, whereas TFC has been stinktastic. And TFC suffered a coaching/managing breakdown in August.

        Again, wait until 2015 before dismissing Toronto.

  2. watched both games last night. San Jose, losing 0-3 to Portland and out of the playoffs looked better and more energetic than Toronto with a spot on the line. Toronto seems to trudge around the field, a 2-man team [Defoe not one of the 2]. Philly is like this too, trudgers.

    Reply
    • Haha, that was my thought last night. Houston are such a boring team, BUT they always find a way to sneak into the playoffs. Four points back of Columbus, it’s unlikely, but who knows.

      Reply
  3. Heads are going to roll. You can’t miss the playoffs after spending the kind of money MLS put into this team.
    Garber needs to clean house

    Reply
      • He’s welcome back in LA (says me). I like Leiweke’s ambition. Bringing in Defoe, Bradley, and Gilberto was a huge coup for TFC. It’s not Leiwke’s fault TFC’s 4th-30th roster spots are lackluster or worse. That’s just a function of MLS rules.

      • this makes no sense… the make up of the entire roster is the hard part… blowing a lot of money on 3 dudes is easy… actually constructing a good roster within the salary cap is the challenge… some teams are able to do it… why is Leiwke exempt?

  4. Haha. What Toronto needs is a major cash infusion from the league. Maybe if they find a mediocre (at best) player and pay him six times his market value he can get them to the playoffs.

    Reply
  5. No, his on-field choices are not what I am referring to. His knee-jerk reaction to firing Ryan Nelsen has clearly led to a loss for this team.

    Reply
  6. Gilberto is injured.

    Bekker was very solid today IMO. Osorio was on the wing and played well.

    You did watch the game didn’t you?

    Hagglund was definitely fouled on the goal IMO. Looked like a push in the back.

    Red card may have been harsh but there was no arguing the PK. You can’t grab the back of a guys collar as he’s breaking in on goal.

    Should have been a PK a few minutes earlier when Jackson was mugged from behind.

    In the end, Defoe was the big disappointment on the night. The missed PK and the skied sitter not long after that had the supporters shaking their heads.

    Reply
  7. Well it’s not as if MLS didn’t give TFC every chance they needed to get closer. Absurd, completely undeserved red card, which led to 40 plus minutes of utter domination by TFC plus 7 minutes of extra time. I’m glad TFC won’t make the playoffs. Seriously, Bekker in the midfield? Where was Osorio? And no Gilberto on the bench? They deserve another failed season.

    Reply
      • Well I disagree. The attacker never once possessed the ball and he dropped like a ton of bricks when he knew he wasn’t going to get a touch on it. One could argue Beasly who let up to allow the keeper to scope up the lose ball was also there to make a play if needed.

      • If you want to argue that he dove, and it wasn’t a foul at all, fine. But assuming it was a foul, he gets to the ball easily and has a point blank shot long before Beasley can get there if he’s not pulled back.

    • Sure, but it’s pretty satisfying to see a club who spent $100 million dollars this off season (more than the Dynamo have probably spent on salaries and transfer fees in their history) struggle.

      Always enjoy watching the low budget guys, in this case the dynamo, succeed and watching the big budget clubs flop.

      Reply
      • Why? MLS teams that try to invest and make their squads better is something we should all welcome. The last thing we need is a league full of nondescrpit bargain basement squads like Houston. Also, Houston will likely be missing the playoffs so they are not succeeding.

      • Pretty short memory you got there brah…

        The dynamo have been to 4 MLS cups in the last 8 years… and won 2..

        They’ve missed the playoffs once in franchise history…

        Pretty dang successful for operating mostly on a shoe string budget

        Who enjoys watching a club spend ridiculous money to buy a title? That’s generally frowned upon by fans except for the fans of that specific team.

        Who in Germany was rooting for Bayern Munich to beat Dortmund in the CL final two years ago? Not many folks outside of the city limits of Munich.

    • To be fair, there were plenty of us saying that it was going to take another year and off-season after this one to make them true MLS cup contendors. They still have some holes that need filling.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to USMNT Star, Drake Davis Cancel reply