Toronto FC staves off a close call, sets sights on semis in New York

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In terms of season-defining moments, the brief pause between the end of regulation and the start of extra time on Saturday was easily the biggest.

With one foot seemingly in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, courtesy of Marky Delgado’s first-half goal, Toronto FC saw that dream threatened when Lucas Rodriguez steered home Wayne Rooney’s corner deep into injury time to level the score.

But captain Michael Bradley rallied his troops before the start of the additional 30-minute period and the response from his team was phenomenal. TFC ran roughshod over D.C. United, scoring four times in the first half of extra time to win 5-1.

“It’s normal that there’s frustration, but we had to find a way to let that part go,” Bradley said. “We had to find a way to understand that we still had 30 minutes at home in our stadium with our fans to go after the game and get ourselves into the next round.”

It would have been easy for Toronto to let the game slip away. Already without two of its most important players – Jozy Altidore and Omar Gonzalez both missed the game with injuries – and facing a team trying to ensure Rooney’s Major League Soccer career ended on a high before he returns to England, Toronto’s resilience was put to the ultimate test.

That TFC passed it with flying colours should only stand it in good stead throughout the rest of this playoff run. And the games don’t get any easier. Next up is a trip to New York on Wednesday to play the rested New York City FC, which had the benefit a first-round bye after finishing on top of the Eastern Conference.

But with the possibility of a stadium conflict had the New York Yankees made the World Series, the game had already been switched to Citi Field, the home of the Mets, instead of Yankee Stadium, NYCFC’s usual abode. NYCFC has played there just once before in a 2-2 draw with Columbus Crew in 2017.

Bradley says he feels that the change of venue might be something that Toronto can use to its advantage, even going up against a team that finished 14 points above it in the standings and lost just once at home all year.

“They’re a very good team, there’s no two ways about it,” he said. “You could argue that if it weren’t for LAFC this year, they were the best team. … But it’s the playoffs and everything starts over and, on top of it, they’re playing in a stadium that’s not theirs.”

New York City had the second-best defensive record in the Eastern Conference this season behind D.C. United, giving up 42 goals in 34 games, but having put five past Bill Hamid in the D.C. goal on Saturday, TFC won’t be lacking in confidence.

Delgado, Nick DeLeon and Richie Laryea all scored their first playoff goals for TFC on Saturday, while Jonathan Osorio added added two more to his résumé.

In contrast to his captain, who would rather Saturday’s game had ended in a 1-0 win after regulation, Osorio actually feels that the dramatic conclusion will benefit TFC on Wednesday.

“It was great for the team,” he said. “It gives us a lot of confidence and some could argue that the game finishing this way is better for us going into the next.”

The short turnaround between games may well be something of a challenge, particularly for a team that turned what should have been a comfortable victory inside of 90 minutes into a gruelling 120-minute marathon.

Bradley chose to accentuate the positives on Saturday, saying that while New York City may well be rested, Toronto will actually benefit from the 120 playoff minutes that it now has under its belt. That should help some of the younger players on this team who weren’t around for the back-to-back MLS Cup final runs in 2016 and 2017.

And Osorio, who played all 120 minutes on Saturday after playing the full 90 for Canada during the 2-0 win over the United States on Tuesday, was in no mood to contemplate fatigue.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s the playoffs,” he said. “All of that does not matter at all. We are going to do everything we can to recover and get ready and that won’t be an excuse.”