TORONTO – The Toronto FC problems continue to mount after a disappointing loss to the Colorado Rapids and a goal scored by an ex TFC player at BMO Field on Saturday afternoon. With newly acquired Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley injured, their replacements could do little to push through the Rapids defense and show any real threat on goal, leaving the crowd shaking their heads after another rather boring afternoon and memories of the last few seasons creeping up again.
The TFC crowd showed up expecting another exciting performance and were quickly brought back to earth when nothing seemed to gel together. Gilberto was nothing like the player we had seen last home game after he continually brought the crowd to its feet with his powerful forward runs with the ball and striking some fear into the defense. He looked lazy and not interested in taking the spotlight while Defoe and Bradley are out. His best attempt was a long range effort that Rapids goalie Clint Irwin easily saved.
The loss was rather cruel to the TFC and the goal scored against them. The Rapids had showed little in attacking and looked happy with a 0-0 tie until ex-TFC player Edson Buddle scored in the 77th minute past a stunned Julio Cesar, just seconds after TFC midfielder Kyle Bekker hit the post.
The TFC are still a new team and the five injuries to their starters made manager Nelsen juggle his lineup quite a bit. Things didn’t get much better when Dwayne DeRosario was taken off in the 78th minute with a suspected injury and leaving them without another class midfielder.
There were a few questionable none calls for penalties when Rapids defender Piermayr clearly tugged at Gilberto and prevented him from a possible scoring opportunity. From my angle it was clearly blatant and the referee had no interest.
One of the serious issues the TFC fans had with the game is the release of red smoke from smoke canisters, installed by TFC, directly in front of fans faces. The smoke lingers and suffocates people to the point they are covering their airways. It is obvious TFC management have yet to witness first hand this smoke and no one enjoys it.
The loss leaves the TFC with 3 wins and 2 losses and in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. The next Toronto FC game is on Saturday as they travel to Dallas at 8:30pm ET.
