Match Report: Toronto FC 3 - 2 Colorado Rapids

Writing about sports often sees journalists drifting into the realm of hyperbole - exaggerating the importance of a match, a player's performance, or the entertainment value of watching the game. However, when Saturday's game at BMO is described as "Bananas", "Crazy", or "Unbelievable", all of these adjectives would be applicable. Believe it or not, some of us predicted a 3-2 Toronto victory, but certainly not in this manner!

Colorado Rapids went down to 10 men thanks to a studs-up challenge from Jackson Travis, then another red was shown to TFC's Raheem Edwards to even the numbers. Colorado quickly scored two goals to force Toronto to play from behind. A 2-0 lead is apparently the most dangerous scoreline in football and Richie Laryea surprised keeper Zac Steffen with a shot and put it past to open Toronto's scoring. The Rapids were down to nine men after defender Miguel Navarro was shown a second yellow. Minutes later this happened:

In perhaps the worst own goal ever seen at BMO, Toronto tied the game thanks to the Steffen mishandling of the ball. Then, in the 85th minute, Josh Sargent was left unmarked in the box and rose to meet the corner kick to score the match-winner and his first for Toronto FC:

Red-y for Primetime

TFC's Resiliency - for many years now, Toronto FC has been mired in mediocrity with points accumulation and not being good enough to play from behind. However, in the past two matche, TFC has come from behind twice to win against Columbus and Colorado after an auspicious start to the season with two losses to Dallas and Vancouver. Perhaps TFC management realized there needed to be a reset with the culture on the team ( arrivaderci Lolo and Fede) and now it is paying dividends.

Josh Sargent's first goal - Strikers often score goals in bunches and Sargent got the start this game and demonstrated the skill necessary to put the ball in the back of the net. Admittedly, Sargent did not look great at the start of the match as he seemed to be a bit out of step with his teammates. However, he was allowed to grow into the game and become more familiar with on and off of the ball movements and found a spot to head home a corner from Alonso Coello. Sargent said, "It was a great ball. They [Colorado] were down to nine, and I wasn't marked any more and had a free run." Hopefully this trend continues. Sargent mentioned, "These things take time." Don't take too long, Josh.

Midfield Mastery - Alonso Coello, along with Jonathan Osorio, led the team in touches with 96 each. The midfield demonstrated the ability to shuttle the ball quickly to impact players like Richie Laryea and Daniel Salloi in the final third. What is more impressive is the chances that Coello created after bearing some of the brunt of criticism for his play. Yes, there was more space with playing a man up. Perhaps that situation gave the midfield confidence to push forward a bit more and make those passes. It is a good sign to have some players like Oso and Coello feel a better about their play moving forward.

Seeing Red

VAR and its Impact - It's a bit of a dichotomy to criticize a system that benefitted Toronto FC early in the match then punished the team shortly afterwards. Raheem Edwards' performance on Saturday was a perfect example of this dichotomy. Edwards was the recipient of a studs-up challenge that turned into a red card for Jackson Travis after a video review. However, Raheem was sent off after a foul outside of the box and the yellow card was upgraded to a red after a VAR intervention. The outcome of the decisions are often unpredictable and had a huge impact on the match.

The High Defensive Line - Fraser's game plan is to employ the high press to create turnovers in the offensive zone. Part of this plan is to keep the defensive line high near half to allow for defenders to be involved in the attack. However, there were numerous instances where the high line was vulnerable to the counter attack and required defenders to sprint back or a save from Luka Gavran. It only takes one or two instances where TFC is caught too high to break open a match.

Djordje's Injury Woes - Mihailovic was unavailable for selection on Saturday due to a groin injury. He played only 45 minutes in the previous match due to an apparent illness. What is most troubling is the uncertainly about Djordje's long-term health from the team. When Robin Fraser was asked about Mihailovic's injury and its seriousness, he said, "I don't think we really know yet to be quite honest. He's basically been carrying some sort of groin pain since the beginning of preseason. It's been getting slightly worse and we felt it's a time to figure out what's going on with him." Hopefully Mihailovic recovers quickly and is back in the lineup soon.

Toronto FC is back in action next Saturday at BMO Field against FC Cincinnati.