Toronto FC’s backs are against the wall when the team enters the lion’s den at the Aztec Stadium in Mexico on Wednesday to face C.D. Guadalajara . The Toronto team faces a must-win situation by over two goals in order to capture the CONACAF Scotiabank Champions League title.
The Reds made their life exceedingly difficult after allowing a goal in just the second minute of play. It was a stunner crowd of over 29,000 at BMO Field Stadium -not the kind of start TFC Coach Greg Vanney envisioned for his team in a home and away series.
The Reds fought back and scored the equalizer in the 9th minute when Jonathan Osorio found himself at the end of some nifty play by Marco Delgado and Jozy Altidore. At that stage of the game, the away goal loomed large in Guadalajara’s favour while TFC missed some glorious scoring opportunities.
Guadalajara scored, making use of their opportunity from the most unlikely of circumstances. Alan Pulido curved a corner kick directly into Toronto’s net in the 72nd minute to give the visitors a 2-1 win and more importantly, a two away-goal tally for the second leg.
I think TFC Coach Vanney and Goalkeeper Bono were on the button with their summaries of the match.
“In the grand scheme of things from what I can recall, they didn’t have a ton of shots on net, most from distance, no great looks on goal. We got into some great spots attacking. Some decent looks on goal, I don’t think the outcome was based on the style of play, I think it is based on both them finishing a couple chances that we should’ve dealt with, “said Vanney.
TFC Goalkeeper Alex Bono on the other hand recognized how disappointing it was for him to allow a goal from a direct corner kick. However, he took full responsibility for the situation.
“On the 2nd goal I made a mistake… I am not going to sit here and make an excuse about that (the wind). It is definitely a misread on my part. I now have to work on training and that sort of thing and get ready for the next time,” Bono explained.
Come Wednesday,The Reds will attempt to be the only MLS team to win a CONCACAF Champions League championship.
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