Toronto FC by the numbers: Atlanta United 2-1 TFC

From what we could gather from John Herdman’s post-match press conference, Gavran thought the game was going to be over as soon as he cleared the ball. He thought he was alone in the box. Instead, Jamal Thiaré did his best to imitate the Undertaker on Gavran and came out of nowhere to score the goal in the last possible seconds of the match.

3.8

The IFAB law which refers to a player leaving and re-entering the field during a match. Some of our immediate reactions to this play were, “He left the field, he can’t come back!” » Well, he can. The rule states: “A player who crosses a boundary line as part of a playing movement does not commit an infraction. » If you watch the replay above, Thiaré took a glass of water from the bottle next to the net before hiding with intent. No problem with that.

By the way, take a look at some of the frequently asked questions on the IFAB Laws website. Some questions focus on scenarios involving spitting, time wasting and players refusing to leave the field. Sounds a lot like the Copa America, doesn’t it? Canada faces Yeferson Soteldo and Venezuela on Friday night, which means more shenanigans guaranteed. Maybe we’ll get to see this move and the madness that will follow:

8

The number of goals scored by newly elected MLS All-Star Federico Bernadeschi this season. It’s refreshing to see a revitalized Berna scoring goals with his new hairdo and Samson-esque scoring prowess (except from the penalty spot).

The last time a player eclipsed this mark was in 2022, when Jesus Jiménez started the season on a high note with seven goals in his first nine matches and finished the season with nine goals in the jersey. TFC. Jiménez was then traded to FC Dallas in February 2023 in exchange for Brandon Servania. Jiménez wallowed on the bench in Dallas and played just 710 minutes for the club with mostly substitute appearances.

Where is he now? In Greece, I play with OFI Crete in the Greek Super League. He played 400 minutes and scored against Panathinaikos in March.

53

The number of seconds it took Bernardeschi to equalize after the start of the second half. Having watched almost every minute of the Euros and much of the Copa América, it seems that the current trend is to try to play the ball long at kick-off. I liken this strategy to American football kickoffs where a group of players run down the field to get the ball.

In this case, Atlanta tried to restart with a long ball and pushed all their players onto the field. This resulted in a foul and a counterattack by TFC, catching Atlanta too far down the field and scoring. Incidentally, Italy also tried this tactic to start the second half against Switzerland in their EURO 2024 round of 16 and it was a disaster as Switzerland counterattacked and scored 26 seconds into the second half.

51%

Toronto FC’s ball possession percentage against Atlanta on Saturday. Even though the split is roughly 50/50 with Atlanta, having half the possession on the outside is generally not a bad thing. However, it showed how hesitant this TFC team is moving forward. Much of this possession was seen on the TFC side with passes between the backs and midfielders instead of the wingers and attackers. It was like watching England play. Do you think John Herdman is inspired by Gareth Southgate? Let’s hope not.

April 6

Shane O’Neill last played for Toronto FC before making a 90th-minute appearance against Atlanta. O’Neill had been out of the lineup for 84 days after leaving the game against the Vancouver Whitecaps with a quadriceps injury. Before leaving, O’Neill had started seven straight games for TFC and played 90 minutes in six of those seven. He was forced to leave the March 23 game early with a head knock. TFC needs some consistency in its lineup and O’Neill can provide some stability to the veterans at right back. While Nicksoen Gomis was a great signing, he is only 22 and may not be quite ready to be an everyday starter in this league. Regardless, he will benefit from O’Neill’s tutelage.

TFC have once again made a quick comeback and return home to face Orlando City on Wednesday night. The good news is that Orlando has been just as poor as TFC of late, winning just once in their last seven games. The bad news is that Orlando’s Duncan McGuire has yet to be traded to Europe and will likely score multiple goals against Toronto. If Blackburn management weren’t so incompetent, we wouldn’t have this problem!