TFC get first win in Greg Vanney era

Toronto snaps six-match winless streak by beating Chivas USA

Gilberto celebrating the third goal in TFC's 3-0 win over Chivas USA. Dennis Marciniak/RedNation Online

On Canadian Armed Forces Day at BMO Field, Toronto FC blitzed Chivas by a 3-0 score.

The victory, one that ended a lengthy winless run by the Reds, was the first for their new head coach. Greg Vanney replaced Ryan Nelsen three games ago after a string of bad results and a whirl of negative PR off of the field.

Chivas also came into the match in dismal form after conceding 15 goals over a current five match losing streak.

After cagey opening moments where both sides tried to dictate their own styles of play, it was the Reds that broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute.

Canadian international Jonathan Osorio played in a cross from the right wing to Brazilian forward Gilberto before the big man set up his countryman Jackson for the goal.

The mark clearly gave Toronto a boost in energy.

Gilberto and his strike partner Luke Moore began to cause havoc within the Chivas defence, creating multiple scoring chances. Chivas looked incapable of handling the pressure and resorted to a physical approach, committing numerous fouls.

Toronto capitalized again just before halftime when defender Nick Hagglund headed a Michael Bradley corner kick into the path of Moore who put it past Kennedy.

The Reds then sealed the game in the 54th minute.

Gilberto, already with an assist to his name on the day, scored one of the easiest goals of his career when a ball that fell into the box found his feet at the back goal post.

After that the action began to lull until the 66th minute when Jackson and Nigel Reo-Coker got into a brawl, prompting referee Edvin Jurisevic to issue straight red cards to both players.

Getting a win in this match may not be looked upon as a landmark victory in the grand scheme of Toronto’s overall season, particularly against a team that has scored only 14 goals outside of injured forward Erick ‘Cubo’ Torres’.

However, numerous positive signs are showing that the Reds may be moving forward.

In one match, the squad kept a clean sheet, snapped a six match winless run, got their new manager his first victory and saw club captain Steve Caldwell play a full 90 minutes for the first time since his lengthy injury layoff.

About this article

By: Kamal Hylton
Posted: Sep 22 2014 7:09 am
Edition:
Filed under: Soccer Sports
Topics: