Toronto FC was unable to maintain a first half lead, but a team hit by a rash of suspensions and injuries managed to hang on against Mexican champion Pumas UNAM in a 1-1 draw in the fifth Group C match of the CONCACAF Champions League.
The Reds took the lead at the 35th minute when Ryan Johnson knocked a high ball down in the path of Danny Koevermans. The Dutch forward alertly held up and found Peri Marosevic near the top of the area. The Toronto forward turned midfielder for this outing, expertly placed the ball inside Pumas keeper David Patino's far post for the 1-0 lead. The strike was Marosevic's first in CCL and third overall in a TFC shirt.
Toronto entered the match severely understaffed, losing Torsten Frings, Terry Dunfield and Mikael Yourassowsky to suspension. Further exacerbating the problem is the lingering hamstring injury to Joao Plata, while Eric Avila is cup-tied due to his involvement with Dallas before coming to Toronto.
The Reds became more depleted as the match wore on. An exhausted Koevermans was substituted at halftime, forcing head coach Aron Winter to play more defensively than he would have likely preferred at that stage of the game. Toronto's defensive shell was cracked just six minutes into the restart when Marco Palacios headed home the 1-1 leveler. Then 15 minutes from regulation, Richard Eckersley was taken off due to a hamstring injury. It's too early to tell what effect this will have on Eckersley for the rest of this season.
The draw takes Toronto to seven points in five matches and a second place tie with FC Dallas in Group C behind Pumas. The Texans travel to Panama on Wednesday to face Tauro F.C., a match that will be observed with some anxiety in Toronto.
A win by Dallas will require Toronto to beat FCD by two goals in Frisco at the sixth and final match of the group stage on October 18. According to Tie-Breaking Procedures of the group stage (CCL Regulations 2.3, Phase 2: Group Stage), that result would allow Toronto to go through cleanly on a head-to-head goal difference. Dallas beat Toronto 1-0 at BMO Field, giving them an away-goals edge in head-to-head competition, which would also be nullified should Toronto beat FCD 2-1. More immediately, a draw or a Tauro victory on Wednesday would make the Dallas-Toronto match a win and move on affair for the Reds, which is easier than a big target against a team that has held Toronto to three clean sheets this year in MLS & CCL. The top two teams in Group C will advance to the 2011/12 CCL quarterfinals. Last season Toronto fell two points shy of this feat.
Pumas head coach Guillermo Vazquez said he would play some talented youngsters in this contest and he did just that, saving many of his bigger stars for the Mexico City derby versus Club America this weekend in the domestic league.
However, Vazquez has to be credited for not sitting on the 1-1 draw and deploying some big weapons, particularly the pesky Javier Cortes and main striker Martin Bravo in the second half. That made the match more interesting, though it proved problematic for Toronto. Sensing the Reds' fatigue and inexperience, the Mexicans went for the maximum points, though a draw and a home date against Tauro in October suits them nicely for a top two finish.
Although Toronto countered, and even crafted dangerous scoring chances through Johnson and Javier Martina against the run of play, Pumas led convincingly in most offensive categories including 61% possession and a 19-8 edge on shots. Without Frings to provide stability, Plata's darting runs at BMO, and Koevermans unable to continue beyond the first 45, Toronto was stretched to deliver the draw that keeps the Reds afloat in Champions League.
Overall thoughts on the match
“I think when you watch the whole game, before you’d be happy with one point but after the match there is a little disappointment that we gave it away. There are two sides, happy but also disappointed. Disappointed because we could have won the game and happy because we were missing a lot of players from our line-up and the younger players we used deserve big compliments.”
Do you think Pumas had an advantage by resting some players
“I think it’s an advantage, you cannot compare Pumas and Toronto FC. They are working with a bigger budget and a bigger roster. They are not re-building like we are. Also we have had a short recovery period following the Chivas game, but if you have a bigger roster it’s easy and they have more quality than us, they are the champions of Mexico and that says a lot in that league.”
