Chicago's Marco Puppo and TFC's Matt Stinson battle for the ball (AP Images)
So NBC's game this week was Toronto FC versus the Chicago Fire. My first thoughts on seeing this were pretty drab. Chicago hasn't been off to the best of starts, and TFC is off to one of the worst starts in MLS history. They came into this one losing all 5 of their league matches, mired on the bottom of the Eastern Conference with zero points. They had also not led in a league match once in 2012. I was curious to see if any of that would change.
I will say this for the match, it was pretty entertaining, which is what you often hope for from a neutral perspective. However, both sides showed some woeful gaps at the back that facilitated the end to end action. TFC came out with a three man back line, including Torsten Frings in the middle of it. This was somewhat mind boggling as Frings is such a rock in the midfield for TFC. The choice cost the Reds right off the bat. Just 25 seconds into the match, TFC 'keeper Milos Kocic tamely rolled the ball out of the area to Frings. Frings didn't seem to know that the Fire's Patrick Nyarko was right bight behind him. Nyarko deftly took the ball off of him, and slipped it over to Dominic Oduro. The speedy Chicago striker slipped the ball easily past Kocic near post to give the Fire a 0-1 lead and shock TFC. It was the 5th fastest goal in MLS history.
Toronto did manage to respond fairly well though. They didn't implode, at least right off the bat. They got the ball forward with regularity and seemed to find some space to work on the wings. Soon enough, Chicago 'keeper Sean Johnson was facing a red firing squad, made up largely of Reggie Lambe and Joao Plata. Finally the pressure paid off late in the half. The Fire lost track of Lambe on a corner kick, and he worked his way out into space in the 36th minute. He got the ball outside of the area and blasted a shot home into the upper near post corner to make it 1-1. Then just four minutes later, Lambe scored again. TFC carved up the Fire at the back and they passed out to him as he dashed toward the six, hammering it in to give TFC the 2-1 lead, their first of the MLS season.
However the TFC lead would last less than 2 minutes. In the 41st, Sebastian Grazzini set up a set piece from distance. He floated it into the 18 and found Gonzalo Segares unmarked. The Fire defender easily flicked the ball into the TFC net to make it 2-2 heading into halftime.
TFC deserves a lot of credit for the way they came out in the second half. They were much more aggressive, knowing they needed a win in this one both for themselves and their fans. The camera shots around BMO Field revealed a lot of empty seats. Keep in mind the fact that this is a team that has never made the MLS playoffs.
Unfortunately the Fire caught them asleep at the back after a spell of pressure and capitalized on a counter attack. Oduro and Nyarko shot up the pitch on the break, and Nyarko found Oduro going into the box. He worked his way easily around Kocic and slapped the ball past the two TFC defenders who were trying to get back to make it 2-3 in the 58th minute.
Still TFC didn't give up. Aron Winter finally pushed Frings up into the midfield and flipped his formation into a 4-4-2. Frings himself would get two great looks to tie it up. He hit a shot just wide in the 63rd minute, then forced a great save out of Johnson in the 88th. Ryan Johnson also hit the post with a header late on. In the end, it wasn't enough and the Fire held on for a hard fought 2-3 win. TFC drops to 0-6 on the season, and the pressure mounts on Aron Winter.
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