TFC's playoff hopes take big hit against LAFC

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All eyes before the game were on the Bradley’s, a story of a father who coached his son throughout his life. But on Saturday night Bob Bradley the head coach of LAFC stood in his technical area and watched as his son Michael the captain of Toronto FC, tried to lead his team over his father’s.

It was Los Angeles who would get the last laugh, taking it 4-2 off some very sloppy play from Toronto.

At the end of the night, it was about a club who felt defeated and ashamed of the effort they’ve put forward this season, one year after a record-setting campaign.

“We had an incredible year last year,” said TFC captain Bradley. “But Champions League aside this year we have not had enough people in this club from the top all the way down to the bottom everybody is included we have not had enough people who have understood how hard it was going to be, what it was going to take to navigate through another season where we had to play every week like our lives depended on it.”

Throughout the first half, it was actually TFC who had the majority of the scoring chances. Sebastian Giovinco came close 15 minutes into the match after a very ambitious bicycle kick from the top of the 18 caught Tyler Miller off guard but forced a good tip over the bar to keep it scoreless.

He tried it. 👀 #TORvLAFC pic.twitter.com/SGq6b4vcZu

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 2, 2018

Justin Morrow was turned away by Miller shortly before halftime, a shot which if it went in would’ve changed everything.

“For me, it’s the same old story…the game starts we do a lot of things pretty well,” said Bradley. “Were not quite good enough and sharp enough to take advantage of some advantages going forward.”

From the opening whistle, LA was the quicker team and their speed was unmatched by TFC. Los Angeles struggled offensively in the first half, unable to break through TFC’s defensive line.

Los Angeles captain Carlos Vela from the get-go was a handful for TFC defenders and the majority of the play went through him or Diego Rossi. Both would be a big impact later on.

It was Los Angeles who broke the deadlock in the 22^nd minute off of a wild and unlucky bounce. Diego Rossi came down the center of the pitch and had a shot towards goal and on the way, it hit a TFC defender, LA’s Carlos Vela and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Double-deflection for @LAFC!

The visitors lead in Toronto. #TORvLAFC https://t.co/EEdRDC1GuZ

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 2, 2018

It stayed that way for the remainder of the first half but it was just minutes into the second half when the floodgates opened up.

LA’s Rossi was on the receiving end of a horribly played long ball from TFC’s defenders. The bouncing ball was timed perfectly and he struck it into the far side of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Diego Rossi got ALL of it. 💥 #TORvLAFC https://t.co/LKcpVILLM1

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 2, 2018

Minutes later Vela turned two TFC defenders inside out before playing a nice ball to Lee Nguyen who hit it into the bottom corner of the net to make it 3-0; sucking the life out of BMO Field as fans started to pile out.

It wasn’t until the 74^th minute Giovinco made a great pass through to Jozy Altidore who made no mistake in alone to make it 3-1.

Seba ➡️ Jozy

One back for @torontofc. #TORvLAFC https://t.co/aeOu8x5Ak8

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 2, 2018

Just minutes later through the smoke from the Altidore celebration, Giovinco had a shot from long range and beat Miller but not the post.

Altidore would add a late goal to make it 3-2, but then Vela once again made TFC’s defending look non-existent before sneaking in a howler short side on Clint Irwin just a mere seconds before the final whistle to make it 4-2 which would be the final score.

Why not, @11carlosV?

He ended this one in style. #TORvLAFC https://t.co/h7oKku5te5

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 2, 2018

And yes, I said Clint Irwin. The biggest surprise of the night when it came to TFC was in goal. Toronto opted to start Irwin over Alex Bono. It was a move, which many could’ve predicted with Bono struggling in between the pipes for Toronto.

Despite the score, Irwin couldn’t have done anything different other than the final goal. He made many saves including a breakaway stop just before halftime to keep it a 1-0 game.

“If you give up four goals you’re going to have a hard time winning games,” said TFC head coach Greg Vanney. “It’s very difficult to win when we are conceding so many goals right now off of things we need to be better at.”

TFC now finds themselves in a big hole. With Montreal winning in their matchup on Saturday night, Toronto goes from six points back, to nine. To their advantage, they have a game in hand along with one more game against the Impact in Montreal.

TFC now has until September 15 to rest, take care of any injuries and regroup in time to welcome the LA Galaxy to BMO. Another team who just like themselves are fighting for a playoff spot.