Ashtone Morgan
Morgan returned to Toronto’s starting lineup for Wednesday’s match in Philadelphia; TFC would lose 1-0 – it was his first start of the season and only his second appearance, having seen one minute as a sub back on opening day in Seattle.
Taking up the left-back spot in the midst of an injury crisis, Morgan did well, but showed a little bit of rust. He played a good ball to spring Luke Moore early, only for Maurice Edu to recover. Morgan also made a couple of strong runs, once winning a foul when he was tripped up by Cristian Maidana after holding off Sebastien Le Toux and later finding himself receiving a ball inside the Union box after a good run into the middle – a little surprised, he snatched at the chance.
Defensively, Morgan added three interceptions, three recoveries, two clearances, and a tackle, getting his feet under him as the match played out.
Morgan was caught out of position on Philadelphia’s goal, wandering up-field and then not recognizing and tracking the run of Le Toux, leading to Conor Casey’s tap-in.
His night came to an abrupt end in the 77th minute, when he was red-carded for hauling down Le Toux who was breaking in alone after Nick Hagglund was caught in possession.
Suspended for the weekend match, the Toronto, Ontario-native returned to the National Team camp to prepare for Tuesday night’s match against Jamaica.
Russell Teibert
Teibert maintained his place in the Vancouver’s starting lineup, making a fourth-straight start in their 0-0 draw against DC United on Saturday – it was his fourteenth start and 21st appearance.
Initially alongside Matias Laba at the base of the midfield, Teibert roamed all over the pitch, inserting himself in the build-up of the Vancouver’s attack. He made a strong burst through the middle to give Pedro Morales a target, and then fed Mauro Rosales on the right, leading to a Darren Mattocks chance.
Another good run down the left would lead to a cross for Mattocks, who connected, but saw his attempt saved by Bill Hamid and Teibert would later pick out Jordan Harvey at the near-post, only for the defender to direct his header wide.
The Niagara Falls, Ontario-native was patient in the build-up, once trying to stab in Mattocks down the left-side of the box, only for his pass to be slightly over-hit; he also set up a Morales chance, squaring a pass across the top of the box.
With nine recoveries, four tackles, and an interception, Teibert had a busy evening, but was made to look vulnerable on one play, attempting to close down Fabian Espindola, who blew right past him.
Kyle Bekker
Bekker was recalled from the National Team camp prior to Toronto’s rematch against Philadelphia on Saturday to take up a place on the bench. He was forced into action in the 44th minute, replacing Collen Warner, who left with a knock before half-time – it was Bekker’s first appearance in four matches and his thirteenth of the season.
With Toronto already trailing by two goals – they would lose, 0-2, Bekker helped establish some more purposeful ball movement in the midfield as TFC went in search of goals, exhibiting a good partnership with Michael Bradley, though of course, no goals would come.
One particular play of interest was a set-piece in the second half, when Bradley, rather than take the free-kick himself, squared in-field from the right to Bekker, who swung a ball towards the back-post. Nick Hagglund would not make the proper connection – though the attempt was spectacular. Too often, Bekker has deferred to more experienced players from set-pieces, when he clearly has something to offer from such situations.
There were times when the Oakville, Ontario-native was a little indecisive, getting smashed by a Mo Edu tackle in midfield after taking a heavy touch, leading to a Philadelphia counterattack.
Doneil Henry
Henry made his seventeenth and eighteenth starts of the season in TFC’s double-headers against Philadelphia, losing each.
On Wednesday, Henry did well to limit the Union chances, showing good strength to step in and cut out the run of Conor Casey after a Michael Bradley turnover – he was engaged in a physical tussle with the big striker all night, but would be caught out by that same aggression that serves him well on some occasions and proves costly on others.
There was an early glimpse on that flaw, getting drawn up far too high into Casey, allowing Andrew Wenger a clear break at goal; the next time Henry pressed too high,
The Brampton, Ontario-native would see a yellow card in the 93rd minute, for a clattering challenge on Philadelphia’s Fred – it was his seventh booking of the season; he collected eight clearances, three recoveries, three interceptions, and a tackle to go with his three fouls.
Come Saturday, Doneil retained his position as the left-sided centre-back, paired with Bradley Orr rather than Nick Hagglund this time around.
It was his clearance that led to Casey’s goal in the eighth minute,
Henry would pick up another yellow card – his eighth – in the 28th minute for smashing into the back of Casey on an aggressive play – he will miss TFC’s next match with a suspension for yellow card accumulation.
He would again get
Henry would redeem himself on one play, recovering to the goalmouth to block a goal-bound Maidana effort; that one block was accompanied by eight recoveries, five clearances, three tackles, and a pair of interceptions.
Dwayne De Rosario
De Rosario, like Bekker, was recalled from the National Team camp for Toronto’s Saturday match against Philadelphia, where he was inserted into the starting lineup – it was his fourth start and twelfth appearance of the season.
Taking up the left-side of midfield, with Jonathan Osorio out with a hamstring strain, De Rosario, as he did against New England the previous weekend, provided some freshness and verve to the Toronto attack; lively, if not as dynamic as in the past.
The Scarborough, Ontario-native made one very strong run up the middle, trying to spring a counter from a Union corner kick; he muscled past one player, but with no support, was then thrown to the ground by Ray Gaddis – no foul was given.
When Toronto started to control passages of the match in the second half, De Rosario regularly helped weave passes down his side, laying off to Mark Bloom, whose low shot struck off the base of the far-post.
De Rosario would leave the match in the 70th minute, making way for Jackson.
Wandrille Lefevre
Lefevre started his fifth-straight match in the Montreal back-line as the Impact fell to a 3-2 defeat away to Houston on Saturday – it was his tenth start and eleventh appearance of the season.
Paired with Matteo Ferrari in the centre of defense, Lefevre had his hands full dealing with a new dynamic Houston attacking duo of sizable Giles Barnes and speedy Omar Cummings. Lefevre did well to keep pace with Cummings on a long ball out of the back, cutting out the chance, before following the Jamaican attacker too deep into midfield,
The French-born defender was also caught out by the quick movement of Barnes on Houston’s second,
Lefevre was very busy all match, springing Montreal attacks from deep, while picking up five clearances, three interceptions, three recoveries, and a tackle.
Post-match, Lefevre commented on how difficult it was to play in the late-summer conditions of the Bayou City: “It was very difficult in the second half physically; we were late a number of times on the ball. It’s tough and unfortunate that we couldn’t play a good full 90 minutes. Missing some of our veterans tonight hurt us in the second half, especially under these circumstances.”
Ferrari in fact had to leave the match at half-time, suffering from heat-related exhaustion, or something to that effect.
Will Johnson
Johnson stretched his iron-man streak to 27 consecutive starts in Portland’s entertaining 3-3 draw against San Jose on Sunday.
Once more alongside Diego Chara, Johnson was part of the two-man shield in front of the back four; given the Timbers were at home, he got forward with abandon – occasionally to Portland’s detriment, as the three goals against can attest.
The Toronto-born midfield was particularly influential through the opening hour, putting one shot on goal from a tight angle on the left after Diego Valeri laid a ball out wide – of his other two attempts at goal, one was blocked, the other went wide, attempting to wrap his foot around a layoff in stride.
And Johnson was crucial defensively, getting a block on a Cordell Cato look and hurrying a rushed shot over the target from Sam Cronin, who had a clear sight at goal – Johnson would collect seven recoveries, two interceptions, two tackles, and a clearance to go with his block.
His afternoon unraveled a little in the 57th minute, when he was yellow carded for dissent, incredulous at the lack of a handball call, though he was the only Timber who took protested so forcefully. Still steaming, Johnson got into a shoving match with Chris Wondolowski seconds later, dangerously testing the patience of the official – he was forced to tread carefully for the rest of the match.
Post-match, he discussed a myriad of issues, including the club’s mental toughness to twice battle back: “We never have to question that. You guys never come in here at the end of the game and say ‘Wow. There was no effort today. What was up with that?’ Those aren’t the questions we get asked. That’s never been in question. The character of this group is top notch, which is why we keep fighting back when we keep letting ourselves down. Like I said, it’s other things we have to fix.”
And their finishing: “Yeah. Finishing was poor, especially in the first half. Just got a lot of good chances. Second half, finishing was better and anytime you score three goals at home, you should win. It’s just the bottom line. Leaves you frustrated to only get a point.”
Tesho Akindele
Akindele was left out of the Dallas starting lineup for the first time in fifteen matches, a run that included all of his starts this season – he would replace Peter Luccin at half-time, making his fourth appearance from the bench, with Dallas trailing by one.
Pushed up top with Andres Escobar and Fabian Castillo, Akindele provided a strong central role, nearly paying immediate dividends with a good run before dishing off to Castillo, who found Escobar down the left, but his shot could only find the side-netting.
The Calgary, Alberta-native did play a role in Dallas’ equalizer, winning the free-kick that
Oscar Pareja hailed Akindele’s contribution to the 2-1 loss post-match, “Bringing in Tesho, he helped us. I thought we did more things going forward, Fabian had more company there, the team found a better rhythm. We were more aggressive. Another forward helped us, we were more confident.”
Maxim Tissot
Tissot began Montreal’s loss in Houston on the bench, coming in the 67th minute to replace Krzysztof Krol at left-back – it was his fifteenth appearance of the season, ten of which have come from the bench.
Given that two of Houston’s goals were the direct result of mistakes from left-back, Krol, Tissot should perhaps have come on earlier, putting in a shift to lock down that side for the rest of the match, while getting forward with the Impact in search of an equalizer.
Jonathan Osorio
Osorio made his sixth-straight start for Toronto in Wednesday’s loss away to Philadelphia – it was his eighteenth start and 21st appearance of the season.
From the left-side of midfield, Osorio was involved in a much better Toronto performance, free to tuck in-field, assisting in maintaining possession, but failing to find any way through a solid Philadelphia defense.
The Toronto, Ontario-native was forced off at half-time with a hamstring concern, to be replaced by Gilberto; he would miss out on Saturday’s match with that same injury.
Sam Adekugbe
Adekugbe made a second-straight appearance for Vancouver against DC on Saturday – it was his third of the season, all but one from the bench.
Coming on to replace Ethan Sampson at left-back in the 54th minute, Adekugbe was very active, compiling six clearances and three recoveries in his 36 minutes on the pitch.
The English-born defender did very well to recover his position on a ball over the top for Fabian Espindola, showing good awareness and speed to insert himself between the dangerous attack and goal, getting hauled down to win a foul in the process.
Kyle Porter
Porter made a rare appearance, coming on for Luis Silva in the 85th minute at the end of DC’s 0-0 draw in Vancouver.
It was the Toronto, Ontario-native’s fourth-appearance of the season, each from the bench, for a total of forty minutes.
The Rest
Jeremie Gagnon-Lapare, Anthony Jackson-Hamel, and Kofi Opare were unused substitutes for their respective sides.
Karl Ouimette, who made his second appearance for Canada last night against Jamaica, did so with a heavy heart, having lost his sister Julie to her long battle with a rare leukemia. Send some thoughts his way.
All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
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