Real Salt Lake earns a road win on Canada Day against Toronto FC. This is TFC’s third-straight defeat in MLS play and their third loss at home this year, two of them in MLS play. This also marks one of many times where TFC dropped points late in the game.
Real Salt Lake Earns Road Win in Toronto
Three Keys to the Game
Real Salt Lake Had the Better Scoring Opportunities
Real Salt Lake had some fantastic chances. Some of them maybe should have resulted into goals. It is a fact that they had the better scoring opportunities though and some of them includes:
- Jasper Luffels and finds Danny Musovski for a shot on goal, but missed the target in the 27-minute from very close range.
- Real Salt Lake’s Brayan Vera almost scored in the 36-minute.
- Braian Ojeda’s was quite close to scoring in the 80-minute.
Ojeda’s shot, if on target, was probably going to the back of the net as the Toronto FC goalkeeper was beat. Musovski though should have probably put the ball in the back of the net, but put it out wide.
Overall, Salt Lake City was wasteful with their scoring chances. It did not go against them in this game, but it might against a tougher opposition.
Toronto FC Gave up Too Many Giveaways
- Real Salt Lake’s first real chance in the 11-minute was created off a turnover.
- Mark Anthony-Kaye gave up the ball as Musovski almost scored.
There was also some miscommunication between Shane O’Neill and Greg Ranjitsingh, which led to a corner for Salt Lake City and almost an own goal. Lastly, Federico Bernardeschi was beaten out deep in Salt Lake’s zone but had the ball taken from him.
TFC Have Given Up Too Many Goals Late in the Game
This is becoming a theme for Toronto FC this year. There has been too many games to count where TFC has dropped points in the last 10 minutes of play. This game against Real Salt Lake was one of them. The stoppage goal showed the poor defending by Toronto.
It started with a block on the 27 shot. Real Salt Lake was moving to the ball and was more active than the TFC players, who were ball-watching as Salt Lake had two clear chances to score, as they converted the second chance to score. This is just one of the games where TFC gave up the lead.
- The most heartbreaking one was the loss to D.C. United where they gave up two late goals.
- In the road game against Minnesota United FC, TFC had the lead before giving up a goal in the 89-minute of play.
They also gave the lead on the road as they lost to the New England Revolution. This has been a recurring theme and is a big reason why TFC are where they are in the MLS standings.
Other Notes of the Game
TFC never felt like scoring against Real Salt Lake. The only time they almost scored was when Jahkelle Marshall-Rutty hit the post. There were times when TFC got in good positions to score, but they either hit the ball straight to a goalkeeper or never got a good touch when the ball got to them like with C.J. Sapong very early in the game.
TFC remains second last in the Eastern Conference with only 19 points to show for 21 games. This is why Salt Lake City have climbed to fourth place in the Western Conference thanks to yesterday’s win. Terry Dunfield though sees some positives (source: Tim Wharnsby of The Canadian Press):
“It’s a tough one to swallow for sure,” the 41-year-old Dunfield said. “I thought that the guys gave me everything. The guys in that change room could be really proud of their performance.”
To be fair to Dunfield and the TFC players, they are adjusting to playing with each other after the sacking of head coach Bob Bradley . Still, if they want to make the MLS Cup Playoffs, they will need to pick up points as it felt like Salt Lake City was the better team on Saturday. It is also important to note that a 16-year-old from Oakville, Ontario, Lazar Stefanovic, came into the game in the 57-minute and played well in his debut for TFC. Also, unfortunately, Lorenzo Insigne got injured, meaning TFC will rely a lot more on Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty for the upcoming games.
Game Overview
Dunfield’s first game as head coach with Toronto FC ended with a home loss at BMO Field. They will now travel to the U.S. for two straight games. This includes travelling to play Orlando City SC on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET and against St. Louis City SC at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. This is while Real Salt Lake will host Orlando City SC at 9:30 p.m. ET next Saturday. Then on Wednesday, July, 12, will play against Sporting Kansas City at 8:30 p.m. ET. All the games will be shown live on Apple TV. Additionally, the TFC-Orlando game will be televised nationally on TSN1 and TSN4, and will also be available for French-Canadian speakers with RDS.
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