We're ready to go. TV set up in the basement, hooked up to the laptop, for the biggest match in Toronto FC'S history. We have a problem. What? They are removing the lines around the penalty areas. The boxes are too narrow! Time to find the line painting machine. They only had 2 weeks to prepare this pitch. And only now did somebody notice. Apparently it was one of the linesmen. Didn't the referee and his team come onto the pitch earlier today? And now we are told kickoff is at 8.38pm, "so that will be a 38 minute delay." Really, 38 minutes. It was never going to start at 8pm. Not in the MLS.
Teams are out. Crowd (61,000) is loud. And indoor, so even louder. Will the National Anthem be sung twice, once in French, once in English? Ah, a bit of both. Both teams are sponsored by Bank of Montreal and Adidas so their warm up jackets are exactly the same. It's funny.
And here we go (once the corner flag is fixed).
Oh dear. A scrappy, high energy start and Montreal have scored two quick goals. Two devastatingly fast counter attacks, just the way we were told Montreal would be dangerous. 2-0 after twelve minutes. A cliche, I know, but there really is a long way to go. An away goal could make this very different. TFC are smart enough, hopefully not to panic. Otherwise this could be over after the first leg.
Montreal really do love playing on the counter attack. They sit back, let TFC come at them through the middle, usually with Giovinco, and then play a coup of quick passes out to their wide players. And they're off. Again and again. It's all probably all too quick for Drogba, who's on the bench.
Half-time. Still 2-0. It's been one of those matches watching TFC where every time they attack you have very little confidence that anything will happen. They try to get the ball to Giovinco as quickly as possible and he either goes alone or tries to use Altidore. It's not working so far. They just run into the very well organised Montreal defence who then break out quickly.
Can the second half be different, better for TFC? Not so far. The first five minutes have just been like the first 45. TFC huffing and puffing but are nowhere near to blowing that Montreal house down.
Oh dear. Oh. Dear. 3-0. 52 minutes. TFC on the attack. It's broken down easily by Oyongo who strides forward, Yaya Toure style, and has all the time in the world to stop, steady himself and hit a bouncing shot into the corner from the edge of the penalty area. This is terrible for Toronto. But it's not over.
3-1. Altidore. They needed a few shots at it. Literally. Now what happens? Will Montreal go for more goals or concentrate on not conceding more? Well here comes Drogba. Maybe that's the answer. Twenty minutes to go.
3-2! Bradley. All of a sudden TFC are getting right through the centre of the Montreal defence. Oh the cliches which I try to avoid....this is a different match now. 18 minutes to go. TFC going for the win?
For both TFC goals they were playing little passes inside the Montreal penalty area. It's unbelievable that they could do that after how well Montreal have been defending. Credit to Toronto for carrying with what they are good at when many, like me, probably thought they needed to do something different.
Giovinco just hit a Geoff Thomas free kick. He almost got the corner flag.
I was just going to mention that Drogba has been ominously quiet. He should have scored right now. Three minutes to go. Fear seems to be the word now. Neither team want to concede another. Or maybe it's just my perception, and my own concern that Montreal will score again.
At 3-0 I was thinking about how many people would be looking to get rid off tickets for the return leg next week. Tickets bought for friends or in the hope that they could be sold for a good profit. The friends may come out of the woodwork now and the touts may be out in force. It's going to be a cracker. It's over, 3-2. TFC only need to win 1-0, but it is not going to be straightforward.
We're quickly off to Seattle-Colorado in the Western final now. That was some good TV synchronisation. From final whistle in Montreal to kickoff in Seattle in seconds. But I'm done for the night. On the day that US soccer gave up on the German and went back to the trusted American, MLS gave us excitement and drama, albeit preceded by a moment of comedy that will be replayed many times over.
No comments:
Post a Comment