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Toronto FC falls to Chivas on penalty kicks in CCL finale

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Toronto FC’s Concacaf Champions League dream ended on Wednesday night in heartbreaking fashion.

After erasing a 2-1 deficit via a 2-1 away push of their own, TFC fell short, 4-2, in penalty kicks in Wednesday’s final. Goals from Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore pushed TFC through regulation, but TFC fell short from the spot when it mattered most.

In penalty kicks, Chivas converted their first shot while Giovinco buried TFC’s first. Chivas made their second as well before Jonathan Osorio’s shot clanged off the crossbar and out, giving the hosts the advantage.

Both teams made their third shot before Chivas converted their fourth as well. In need of a make, Michael Bradley’s shot went over the bar as Chivas claimed their first continental title since 1962.

Chivas struck early with the game’s opener, even if it did little to change the task ahead for TFC. Orbelin Pineda scored 19 minutes into push the aggregate score to 3-1, although the challenge remained the same for a TFC side in need of two goals.

The first of those goals came in the 25th minute from Altidore. Following some magnificent hold-up play from Nicolas Hasler, the TFC midfielder fired a pass to Altidore, who’s first time shot restored TFC’s hopes.

Giovinco took it a step further just before halftime, pushing the score to 3-3 while evening the away goals tiebreaker. Giovinco’s shot was a low-driven roller to the near post that trickled past Rodolfo Cota to level the series.

Throughout the second half, TFC held on for dear life, especially as the challenge became even more difficult due to a variety of circumstances. With all four centerbacks out of the lineup, the defense held on fairly well but, following the departure of Jozy Altidore due to injury, TFC held on for penalty kicks.

Once there, it fell apart, though, as Chivas stayed perfect to seal the win.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Sebastian Giovinco was dangerous throughout in a match where he was, at times, the only legitimate attacking outlet.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

With the game on the line with moments remaining, Marky Delgado missed a close-range volley, sending the match to penalty kicks.

MATCH TO FORGET

Michael Bradley and Jonathan Osorio were solid enough through the 90 minutes, but the missed penalties headlined a missed opportunity for TFC.

Comments

  1. i had time to look this up. landon donovan famously missed his pk against real salt lake in the mls cup final in 2009 and THEY LOST. ouch! that’s sports for ya ;-P

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  2. TFC had a chance to win it when Giovinco chipped the ball back across the goal mouth but Delgado mishit the ball and it went way over the crossbar. That would have won it without need for PKs.

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  3. Coach….”Bradley you’re up for the penalty”
    Team…….

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    But at least he stayed in the game and didn’t fake an injury to avoid the responsibility

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  4. Oh, as for the game: seriously disappointing. With no World Cup for the US team, this was our World Cup in a sense…Bradley and Jozy representing the American league and going to foreign soil to take on a Mexican team. So to have the “best MLS team of all-time” still lose to a downtrodden, struggling Chivas team…and to miss an easy chance in the 90th minute, plus shank two penalty kicks?? Going to be another five years before an MLS team wins this competition. THE GULF IS STILL SUPER WIDE BETWEEN MLS AND MX.

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    • Really!? Both the Red Bull and TFC did very well against the Mexican opponents. While you might claim Chivas had the better run of play against TFC, they still tied on aggregate and the Red Bull clearly out-played Chivas despite losing. Two of the 4 semifinalists and 3 of the quarter-finalists were MLS teams. That hardly looks like MLS and Mexican league are very far apart.

      PKs are always a crap shoot. If Bono had not moved, he probably would have stopped 2 of the Chivas PKs that were sent straight up the middle. Still you expect Osorio and Bradley to at least force a save.

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    • Dainja …”Going to be another five years before an MLS team wins this competition.”

      Dennis…”While you might claim Chivas had the better run of play against TFC, they still tied on aggregate and the Red Bull clearly out-played Chivas despite losing.”

      Who lifted the CCL trophy???
      Which region have lifted the trophy since it came into existence??

      “The better team wins games while losers make excuses”……especially with two chances

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  5. Can someone please make a gif of Bradley’s PK miss and post it here? Seriously. It was comically bad and I want to use it to make punchlines about epic fails.

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    • What a classic script with Bradley missing the penalty to lose the match. Kind of had that feeling the entire game.

      Someone that you want to win, but ends up being a perennial loser. Kind of like Hillary Clinton. How about a Millary Bradton gif? Something like this: https://giphy.com/gifs/trumpton-dillary-uE1M9k5NLCpIk

      Bradley: can you just go away now? I’m tired of watching you lose big games.

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  6. Not counting the fact that a Chivas played punched Gio in the chest in full view of the ref, Chivas actually played better and deserved the win. Bradley choking wasn’t a huge surprise. Chivas took their penalties like pros. Toronto looked shaken and tired.

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    • Right? I have to wade through a bunch of comments from people who can’t get over the USMNT to see something positive. TFC mowed down Mexican opposition in this tournament, and as a whole I see a lot of MLS improvement and upside after this year’s CL performances. But everyone here wants to talk about MB. What a dour bunch. Part of the reason I rarely post here.

      Reply
      • MLS has been “making progress” against Mexican teams for years. Now this don’t mean sh*t until they win the thing.

      • MLS lost this more than TFC did. TFC played Colorado in R16 (Chivas played some in the Dominican Republic called “Cibao”), Tigres in the Quarters (Chivas played a sputtering Sounders teams) and then Club America in the Semis, who previously spanked a Tauro team 7-1 that beat FC Dallas (Chivas played the Metros).

        The fact is, even though the Red Bulls did better than MLS teams normally do, a great team like TFC will be disadvantaged because the other MLS teams aren’t carrying their own weight, allowing for Liga MX sides to have easier paths in a tournament of attrition.

      • The good news so far is SKC is the lone MLS side in the 2019 CCL and they should perform at the NYRB level. Hopefully Atlanta and NYCFC or another good team will take the 2018 USOC and the best aggregate 2017/2018 regular season record. Then TFC as the Canadian Champ. Hopefully no scrubs like Colorado or FCD.

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