Match Thoughts: Toronto FC vs. DC United.

Well, that went well. Right TFC?

Things started out bad and got progressively worse for Toronto, which is weird for a couple of reasons. One, TFC is usually a pretty safe bet at home. They have a good crowd that really gets behind them. Two, DC had really been struggling for results, only being saved by penalty kicks. Well all that went out the window today and went out rather quickly in the cold Toronto rain.

Before the crowd could even get settled in their wet seats, Pontius sliced and diced the TFC defense, if you can call it that, and pounded his first goal of the season into the back of the net. Oops. Well, TFC is a decent side, they're at home, they'll respond, right? Not really. In the 10th minute, Frei saved a hard shot headed into the TFC goal, but it rebounded right to Charlie Davies, and CD9 made quick work of it for his 4th goal of the year. DC United was up by two and there wasn't a penalty kick in sight. Finally about the 20th minute, TFC got going, and even gained the upper hand on possession, but they never really threatened. DC had their 2 goal lead going to the half, looking secure.

Things looked even more secure in the second half, when Harden was shown a straight red for TFC for denying a clear goal scoring chance. Now, MLS refs have been under a lot of scrutiny this week, but this was absolutely the right call. TFC was now down 2 goals and down to ten men.

That seemed to galvanize them a little though, it's like they finally woke up and tried to do something with their possession. In the 54th minute, Tchani got off a nice strike that went wide, and in the 77th minute TFC got a header on goal that was just barely cleared off the line. That could have made things interesting. Instead Pontius added his second of the match to seal the DC win.

Charlie Davies went down right at the end, but it looked to be just a cramp. Lets hope so, he looked awesome tonight, and that's great to see. DC United gets a win to hopefully build on, and if you're TFC, it might be back to the drawing board at this point. They looked bad. Kyle Martino commented that Aron Winter might not have the players for the system he wants to play, and it certainly looked like square pegs in round holes tonight.