Toronto FC gave up a goal before halftime and finished the game with nine men as the Reds fell to Árabe Unido 1-0 in Panama on Tuesday night in the second match of their CONCACAF Champions League group-stage campaign.
The Panamanian side dominated possession in the opening half by a 92 percent margin (editor's note: the figure quoted by MLSsoccer.com and CONCACAF.com is incorrect. First half possession was 55%-45% in Arabe Unido's favour) and, despite numerous half-chances, were finally rewarded for their efforts in the 40th minute.
Árabe Unido defender Roland de la Cruz headed down a corner kick straight into the path of striker Fidel Caesar, who unleashed a spectacular first-time half-volley towards the Toronto goal.
The shot appeared to have been stopped by Reds defender Gabe Gala, but the ball was judged to have crossed the line and the visitors went to the dressing room with a 1-0 halftime lead.
Toronto coach Preki elected to start third-string goalkeeper Milos Kocic in place of Toronto’s usual starter Stefan Frei and backup Jon Conway.
Kocic, who had been on loan to the Serbian White Eagles of the Canadian Soccer League, played admirably in the match and shut down Árabe’s Mario Angulo in the final minutes of play when the speedy attacker broke towards the Toronto goal and unleashed a hard blast that Kocic turned away.
After halftime, the Reds came out of the locker room with a new game plan and began to finally apply pressure to the home side. Second-half substitute Dwayne De Rosario narrowly missed setting up the tying goal three minutes after the break when Toronto striker Fuad Ibrahim spotted up at the top of the 6-yard box.
De Rosario had replaced striker O’Brian White and wasted no time working himself into the fray, putting the ball just inches away from the feet of Ibrahim before goalkeeper José Calderón quickly smothered the centering pass.
Two minutes later, Toronto’s aggressiveness in their penalty area backfired when midfielder Nick LaBrocca slammed into a charging Calderón and was issued a red-card ejection for the challenge, reducing the Reds to 10 men.
TFC were left down a man further in the 87th minute after De Rosario tried but failed to convert a late equalizer with a spectacular bicycle kick that failed to find the target. The resulting play saw a pressuring Ibrahim ejected for a late tackle that left Árabe defender Reinaldo Anderson sprawling on the ground.
Árabe Unido played Tuesday’s match 45 miles from their home stadium in Colón and instead faced their Canadian competitors at Estadio Agustín Sánchez in La Chorrera, home of Panamanian rivals San Francisco FC.
TFC return to league action on Saturday at Real Salt Lake and then face the defending champs again in their next Champions League match at Rio Tinto Stadium on Sept. 15.
