Toronto FC lost 2-0 to Atlanta United at BMO Field on Saturday night.
An odd goal from Luis Araujo in first half stoppage-time put the visitors in front. A sweeping attack up the left-side led to a cut-back from George Bello. Araujo’s left-footed attempt kicked up off his standing leg to elude Alex Bono in the TFC goal.
Toronto would press for an equalizer and were denied one in the 94th minute when Brad Guzan got a mitt on a powerful Omar Gonzalez header off a Yeferson Soteldo cross. And Marcelino Moreno would add the second deep in second half stoppage-time as a pair of red cards to Auro Jr and Ezequiel Barco led to a whopping nine minutes being added on.
“It was a weird game,” said Javier Perez post-match. “We didn't deserve to lose the game. We didn't deserve to be 1-0 down at halftime, they scored right at the end. We stayed in it the rest of the game and tried different things, but we couldn't really find the right opportunity.”
“Omar has a very clear chance towards the end to find the tie, but in the end we don't score and we get a loss tonight,” he added. “Which I think doesn't reflect really what the team did on the field.”
It wasn’t Toronto’s night.
“We had some really, really good chances. We hit a crossbar in the first half, Brad made an incredible save on Omar's header in the second half. We had chances,” detailed Bono. “And it's just one of those nights where it didn't fall in our favour. We didn't quite get the bounces”
“As a group we played a pretty good game, we had the better of the play for the majority of the game. One break down at the end of the first half and they capitalize and, maybe, a bit lucky on the finish. And then second half we're pushing, we're pushing, we're pushing, trying to go for a goal and those chances on the fast break the other way are always going to happen when guys are out of position and guys are pushing hard to even the game up,” he summarized. “It didn't happen for us today.”
“You take the loss and you learn from it, and you say, ‘We're starting to play some good football as a group and we are starting to gain confidence,’” Bono said. “And a lot of bodies are coming back – it's the healthiest we've been all season really and it's the most we've been clicking all season.”
The match did see the return to action of Alejandro Pozuelo and Jozy Altidore, both coming on for the final 30 minutes of regulation.
“It was very important for them to get some minutes,” said Perez. “They came on in a difficult game. Both of them are very experienced players and they are used to these kind of games, but unfortunately they have been out for a long time. It wasn't really the purpose to change the game, but I'm very happy they contributed and they were on the field.”
As is so often the case, the first goal proved decisive.
“I haven't seen it yet, but that's the way I saw it as well,” replied Bono, asked about the own-deflection. “We are in stoppage-time in the first half, we had a goal kick, move everyone up – it's kind of standard operating procedure: let's get to halftime 0-0. We had a really good first half as a group defensively and we had some really good chances, so get to the half, regroup and go again in the second half.”
“Unfortunately we broke down along the right side and they got a cut-back,” he recalled. “I read his body position, it looked like he was trying to cut it across the goal with his left foot, so I started moving to my left and I believe it hit off his plant leg and took a weird flight that wrong footed me a little bit.”
A testy affair throughout, as matches between these two always are, the boil heated over in the final ten minutes as a clash between Auro and Barco led to a pair of red cards following a meeting of the minds, forehead-to-forehead style.
The two clubs will play once more this season, on October 30 in Atlanta.
With the result, Toronto were officially eliminated from contention for the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Given the way the season played out, any aspirations were always a long shot, but the team never let that affect them.
“The team really fought,” said Perez. “The team really fought the whole way through and never gave up.”
“Nor do I expect them to give up now,” he continued. “We still have to fight for points. It's not a team that gives up easily. I'm proud the way we went down.”
“It's been an extremely difficult season for us. Many of the games didn't go our way. It reflects, as well, the characteristics of the season and it will make us stronger,” Perez stressed. “We still have a cup, a championship to play for, the [Voyageurs] Cup, and having that objective is going to help us to stay strong, stay motivated. And it's going to make us strong, the whole experience, to be a team to come back and fight for titles.”
Nothing has changed but the math.
“We never stopped believing that there was a possibility until the numbers say it's so, but we knew we were facing a steep uphill battle for a while now,” said Bono. “We focused on one game at a time, don't even look at the table because at the end of the day we can't really control how the rest of our season goes, we can only control how we perform, the points we put on the board, and the product we put on the field.”
“So it's always been a ‘focus on the next game and don't look beyond that’ and that will continue,” he said. “And now if we’re eliminated from the playoffs we've got five league games left to go out there and show everyone that we are not going to accept our place in the standings. We are not going to accept the product we put out this entire season and we are going to keep trying to get better and keep showing these fans that we are hungry and this is not a place this club wants to be.”
“Our ambition is to finish on a high note and show people that we are hungry,” Bono added. “And come back next year with vengeance, energized and ready to go, and put this club back where it belongs at the top.”