A goal and a red card may be a dubious double, but that’s exactly what Tony Tchani experienced on Saturday at BMO Field as Toronto FC drew visiting Columbus Crew 1-1.
Tchani had put Toronto up 1-0 after Julian de Guzman floated a perfectly weighted ball over a Columbus defender and on to the path of his midfield partner. Tchani hit the ball with his left foot on a single bounce, slotting it past Will Hesmer and breaking 415 minutes of clean sheet football for the Crew. Tchani then leapt over the advertisement boards to celebrate – similar to what Alan Gordon had done here – earning his second caution and an ejection during a whirlwind 42nd minute. It’s worth noting that Gordon didn’t receive a card for his celebration back on April 9.
Tchani had received his first yellow card five minutes earlier for participating in an altercation that ensued when Columbus’ Kevin Burns chopped down Danleigh Borman, resulting only in a caution for the Crew midfielder.
Pitch Battles
10-man Toronto couldn’t cope early in the second half when Columbus equalized from Emilio Renteria four minutes after restart. The draw kept their all-time undefeated record against the Reds in tact through 12 games. In September the return leg in Columbus will settle the 2011 Trillium Cup.
That goal erased what was otherwise a very strong start for Toronto. The Reds found a cure for their early game woes and controlled the run of play from the first whistle with 54% first half possession leading up to the Tchani ejection. Alan Gordon returned for the Reds and was an influential target man. Another regular, Ty Harden was serving his suspension so Toronto started a new centre back pairing with Dicoy Williams playing alongside Adrian Cann. Aside from a first half blunder in which Robbie Rogers nearly nicked in a goal for Columbus, Williams fared well with a team high eight clearances.
Man of the Match
Reds midfielder de Guzman has long been touted as a catalyst in head coach Aron Winter’s 4-3-3 system and on Saturday he showed why. The former La Liga standout had 65 touches – the most for any Toronto midfielder – completed 79% of his passes and assisted on the Reds’ lone goal.
Up until his ejection, Tchani was in the running for MOTM. Without him in the second half Toronto was hanging on shorthanded but weren’t shy to attack, particularly with the addition of speedsters Mikael Yourassowsky and Joao Plata. The latter player in particular had a pair of electric runs from deep in his own half, unafraid to take on groups of Columbus defenders. Former Toronto centre back Julius James was frustrated by the trickery of Plata and fouled the Ecuadorian at the 80th minute to pick up a yellow card.
Starting XI
Toronto FC (4-3-3) – Stefan Frei; Danleigh Borman, Dicoy Williams, Adrian Cann, Dan Gargan; Tony Tchani, Maicon Santos (Joao Plata 77′), Julian de Guzman; Javier Martina (Richard Eckersley 63′), Alan Gordon (Mikael Yourassowsky 46′), Jacob Peterson … Subs Not Used: Oscar Cordon, Nick Soolsma, Nathan Sturgis, Milos Kocic … Goals: Tchani 42′ … Caution: Tchani 37′ 42′ … Ejection: Tchani 42′
Columbus Crew (4-4-2) – William Hesmer; Rich Balchan, Julius James, Chad Marshall, Sebastian Miranda; Robbie Rogers, Emmanuel Ekpo (Tommy Heinemann 46′), Kevin Burns (Dejan Rusmir 63′), Dilly Duka; Emilio Renteria (Andres Mendoza 74′), Eddie Gaven … Subs Not Used: Jeff Cunningham, Andy Iro, Korey Veeder, Andy Gruenebaum … Goals: Renteria 49′ … Caution: Burns 37′ Ekpo 39′ James 80′ Rusmir 90′