Another MLS season, another opening day Vancouver Whitecaps victory, although the Caps were made to work hard to secure a 1-0 victory over a resolute Toronto side.
Gershon Koffie was the match winner with a strike on the hour mark, whilst Nigel Reo-Coker looked like a real difference maker when he came on for the second half.
The end result was never in too much doubt. Toronto understandably struggled after a week of late transition and Vancouver’s new pieces took a little bit of time to fit into place, but from the second half kick off, there only looked to be one winner.
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Despite the narrow scoreline, Martin Rennie was happy with what he saw out there.
<i>"The first game of the season is always a little bit of a nervy affair. I thought in the first half we were a little bit scratchy in our passing and our technique, but in the second half we changed the system, we changed the way that we played and I thought we dominated the second half, created quite a lot of chances, had quite a lot of pressure and managed the ball well at the end of the game when we were winning 1-0. Didn't give up a lot of chances, so overall I'm very, very happy about that.
It's an important win for us. It's a clean sheet and it starts the season off very well and it hopefully sends the fans home happy."</i>
Toronto had the best of the opening minutes, forcing Joe Cannon into a couple of punches to clear the danger, but this was really as good as it got for them.
Vancouver soon started to take control and their pace was showing signs that it could trouble the visitors, with Richard Eckersley having a torrid time on the right initially before settling.
With four minutes gone, Alain Rochat delivered a beautiful curling through ball that left the visitor’s defence flat and allowed Kenny Miller to get in behind. He sent over a dangerous cross but Daigo Kobayashi just couldn’t get into position in time.
The Caps kept pressing and Rochat again nearly played in Miller in the sixth minute, but Toronto keeper Joe Bendik was quick out to collect the ball.
After the build up of whether he would be fit to play, Whitecaps captain Jay DeMerit hit the floor in the seventh minute and soon went off injured and was replaced by Brad Rusin.
The home side were looking the more threatening, but with the game mostly being played in the middle of the park, Toronto were holding their own.
Manneh tried a long range speculative effort in the 32nd minute, which Bendik got down to with ease, but he had to act quick to recover the loose ball as Kobayashi bore down.
Toronto went up the pitch and Miller showed just how much of the field he covers in a game as he sprinted from the centre circle to the right back spot to snuff out a chance.
TFC were starting to grow in confidence and Jun Marques Davidson did well to cut out a dangerous ball into the six yard box with Terry Dunfield ready to pounce.
Nigel Reo-Coker came on at the break for Manneh. The young Gambian had some nice touches but looked a little bit lost out there at times, but showed enough glimpses that he will be a handful for defences once he gets more comfortable with the step up in class.
Vancouver had a great chance to take the lead in the 51st minute.
Rochat whipped in a free kick from the right and Miller was just inches away from getting his head on it. As the ball ricocheted off a surprised Bendik, the ball broke to Rusin who just failed to connect and divert the ball him with his outstretched leg.
Vancouver’s pressure finally got its reward on the hour mark.
An Andy O’Brien long ball started a neat passing move that ended with a well-read Kobayashi ball into the path of Gershon Koffie and the Ghanaian buried the ball past Bednik from the edge of the box.
The Whitecaps kept pushing and Reo-Coker broke quickly with Miller to his left and Mattocks to his right. Miller looked the better option but he chose to play in the Jamaican and Mattocks rocket took a deflection off the boot of Eckersley.
The goal left Toronto a little bit flat and they never really looked like coming back into the game.
Vancouver had a few half chances as they closed the game out. It was a nervy performance, but one in which they looked in control and have many positives to take from the game.
Toronto can also be pleased with their performance. For a team that has had such a turbulent offseason, they showed signs today that there are some bright spots to build upon, but they need to get Robert Earnshaw some help up front.
In the end, it’s another winning start for Vancouver. With Columbus coming to town next week, six points out of six will set the Caps season up nicely.
FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 1 - 0 Toronto FC
ATT: 21,000 (sell out)
VANCOUVER: Joe Cannon; Young-Pyo Lee, Jay DeMerit (Brad Rusin 8), Andy O’Brien, Alain Rochat; Jun Marques Davidson, Gershon Koffie, Daigo Kobayashi (Erik Hurtado 76), Kekuta Manneh (Nigel Reo-Coker 46); Kenny Miller, Darren Mattocks [subs Not Used: Brad Knighton, Jordan Harvey, Camilo Sanvezzo, Corey Hertzog]
TORONTO: Joe Bednik; Richard Eckersley, Ashtone Morgan, Danny Califf, Darren O'Dea; Jeremy Hall, Hogan Ephraim, Terry Dunfield (Taylor Morgan 75), Reggie Lambe; Kyle Bekker, Robert Earnshaw (Emery Welshman 85) [subs Not Used: Quillan Roberts, Gale Agbossoumonde, Jonathan Osorio, Darel Russell, Andrew Wiedeman].
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