Nick LaBrocca takes on two Cruz Azul players at BMO Field. Aug. 17, 2010 (Scotty / TFCpics.com)

I’ll admit, I thought Toronto was going to get slaughtered on Tuesday night.

With all the goings-on that have surrounded this club over the past couple of weeks, it seemed inevitable that TFC would get crushed by Cruz Azul in Mexico. Doubly so when considering the fact that The Reds handed the Mexico City giants an embarrassing 2-1 loss at BMO Field last month in the opening game of the CONCACAF Champions League group stage.

I was so confident that TFC was going to get hammered that I didn’t even bother to write a pre-match blog entry on the match. Why bother writing about the CCL when the focus is getting this shattered team back on track in the league, right?

When the starting lineup was announced, my fears seemed justified. By throwing out the equivalent of a ‘B’ squad — an overtly defensive-minded one, at that — Nick Dasovic was signalling his intent to simply play out the CCL games and put all of his attention on the slim chances of getting into the playoffs. Or so I thought.

Within minutes of the game starting, it was clear that although Toronto clearly wasn’t going for a win in Mexico City, they weren’t simply going to lay down and play the role of Washington Generals, either.

The Reds defended with purpose and bite, frustrating the Cruz Azul players at every turn. The game plan was easy to see, force the hosts to play the ball out wide by clogging the middle and thus taking away their two biggest offensive threats.

The problem with that plan is that Cruz Azul is blessed with very good wide players, including the ever-dangerous Alejandro Vela (brother of Arsenal’s Carlos). Charged with defending against these wide threats were Nick Garcia and Raivis Hscanovics, both of whom have taken heaps of scorn from supporters over the course of the season (and justifiably so).

To their credit, the oft-maligned full backs performed admirably, especially Garcia who forced Vela into countless poor shots and many rushed crosses. Anything that did get through was tidily cleaned up by the central defensive pairing of Adrian Cann and Ty Harden, the latter of whom has made Nana Attakora’s absence in recent games almost unnoticeable.

The master of the defence, however, was Jon Conway. He has really made the role of “confident, experienced back-up who can step in at any time” his own. Conway was a beast in Mexico City Tuesday night, showing the command in Toronto’s six-yard box and organizing the back line with the panache of a long-time number one goalkeeper. TFC is lucky to have such a capable professional serving as Stefan Frei’s understudy.

The end result was a nil-nil draw at Estadio Azul, an enormous result for The Reds at one of the toughest venues to play in in the Western Hemisphere. More importantly, the draw gives TFC four points in the CCL group stage, all earned from arguably the best team in the group.

Toronto now sits in third place in Group A, behind Cruz Azul (7 pts) and fellow MLS side Real Salt Lake (6 pts). With two home matches against RSL and FIFA Fair Play Award Nominees Arabe Unido left to play, it could be argued that TFC actually has a better shot of advancing in the Champions League than making the MLS playoffs.

(Of course, Toronto would have been much better off right now had Preki not decided to throw the match at Arabe Unido, but that’s a discussion for another time.)

Regardless, The Reds find themselves in a curious position, one which I couldn’t have imagined for TFC just a week ago.

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Pros and Cons for Toronto FC’s 0-0 draw at CDSC Cruz Azul on September 21, 2010:

PROS

• Team defending was superb.
• Jon Conway steps in and impersonates Stefan Frei, taking command in goal.
• Julian de Guzman caused havoc for any Cruz Azul player daring to go through the centre of the pitch.
• TFC has held CCL leading scorer Javier Orozco (10 goals, including 4 against RSL) scoreless in two matches. He was invisible on Tuesday.
• The Guatemalan referee was actually competent, a rarity in the world of CONCACAF officiating.
• The handful of RPB that traveled to Mexico City. Well done!

CONS

• Players going down with injury pretty quickly. Hopefully TFC’s roster is not too thin going forward.
• O’Brian White and Fuad Ibrahim still not convincing as to why they should be with this team next year.
• The classlessness of Cruz Azul’s players, always looking to get in a shoving match.

HIGHLIGHTS

Posted by Rudi Schuller

In what hopefully will be the most forgettable TFC performance of the season, Toronto held on for dear life to scratch out a 0-0 draw at Vancouver Whitecaps.

You could tell before kickoff that this one wasn’t going to be a classic. The pre-match weather forecast called for gale-force winds and possible thundershowers that threatened to postpone the match. Toronto’s starting line-up included names like Jon Conway, who had yet to play a single minute for TFC this year, along with recent dog house dweller Raivis Hscanovics. Julian de Guzman was out again, replaced by 18-year-old wrecking ball Amadou Sanyang. Even everyone’s new favourite Red Chad Barrett saw himself pinned to the bench to start the match, with a still-hobbled O’Brian White – who sat out Saturday’s match at LA with an ankle ailment – taking his place up top.

Thankfully, the severe weather held off, with a bit of rainfall and a nice second-half sun shower taking is place. Unfortunately, TFC’s scrubs could not pleasantly surprise in the same manner.

Vancouver’s game plan was obvious. Throw as many guys on Dwayne De Rosario as possible, and hit long, hopeful balls up to their towering targetman Marcus Haber. In the first 25 minutes, they did both of those things to perfection, completely neutralizing Toronto’s main offensive weapon while giving their own main attacker every opportunity to create something going forward.

It almost worked, too. Haber skinned Adrian Cann in the early going and set up a decent chance for the ‘Caps. The Vancouver striker’s superb holding up of the ball showed most in the work of young ‘Caps forward cornelius Stewart, who proved himself a handful for Toronto’s backline all night.

Eventually, TFC caught on and its backline, anchored as usual by the stellar play of Nana Attakora (for the first half only), once again rendered the opposition attack useless. With both sets of forwards not doing much, the battle reverted to the midfield, and that’s where the Whitecaps held steady.

To be fair, Toronto’s starting central midfield pairing of Sanyang and Nick LaBrocca was completely makeshift and just a slight step down from the usual DeRo-JDG pairing. That said, there were times when Vancouver’s central mid pairing were dominant, which is unacceptable regardless of the circumstances.

Regardless, Toronto held steady against a highly-motivated opponent which has historically fared excellently against them, away from home, on the tail end of a brutal road trip that saw TFC reach just about every corner of the continent over a nine-day stretch. That has to be a positive going forward, as the Reds of previous years would have simply crumpled in similar circumstances (see the same fixture in 2009).

Vancouver is now on the back foot, needing wins away at both Montreal and Toronto in order to claim its first Voyageurs Cup. It says here that, with a little bit of rest and some home cooking for TFC, the results will be a bit different when these two teams meet again.

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Pros and Cons for Toronto FC at Vancouver Whitecaps, played May 19, 2010:

PROS

• Playing tired and hurt, TFC still keeps its opponent off the scoreboard (for the third straight match)
• Gabe Gala’s confidence to take on players, and beat them
• Jon Conway proving himself a steady backup to Stefan Frei

CONS

• Gala not being able to go for more than an hour, despite hardly getting many minutes all year
• O’Brian White being completely invisible, leaving Dwayne De Rosario to fend for himself
• TFC not scoring against an inferior opponent
• The midfield pairing of Nick LaBrocca and Amadou Sanyang
• The team as a whole losing possession, a lot
• Vancouver’s Marcus Haber wearing gloves. Haber, you’re Canadian and your strike partner from freaking St. Vincent is gloveless! Man up, FFS.

HIGHLIGHTS

Posted by Rudi Schuller