Toronto FC head coach John Herdman is ready to embrace the challenge of a hectic fixture list to finish the MLS season, starting with welcoming Columbus Crew to BMO Field in midweek.
The Reds bounced back from their defeat to D.C. United with a 2-1 win over Austin FC last time out, moving to within two points of the top seven in the Eastern Conference.
Herdman was able to rest a number of his key players, including Lorenzo Insigne, and is confident his players can pick up a first win against their opponents in six matches.
“We’ve got to harden up. We've got to do the recovery. We've got to embrace the challenge,” said Herdman of the quick turnaround.
“It's an exciting opportunity to have Columbus at home. Not many people give you much chance against that team, the quality they have, but we were able to [partially] rest Lorenzo [Insigne] tonight. You could see that first 45, he was hungry and sharp.
“We managed to [leave] some gas [in] his tank ready to play a big match against Columbus. “I'm sure he'll be up for it.”
Columbus, meanwhile, secured their place in the playoffs with a goalless draw with FC Cincinnati, but there was disappointment among Wilfried Nancy’s squad.
The Crew managed just three shots on target from the 12 they attempted, ending the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.32 compared to Cincinnati’s 0.28.
And while they kept a 10th clean sheet, the most in the MLS this season, head coach Nancy reiterated the importance of improvements ahead of their trip to Toronto.
“Obviously, it was the first objective because you know me with the number of wins [13-14], and we achieved it,” Nancy said.
“This is good because we cannot take anything for granted. I'm happy that we clinched the playoffs already.
“Now we're going to be able to go all in and to push a little bit more.
"Obviously, I would say it's normal to make the playoffs because we have to make the playoff in this club.
“Now we cannot take everything for granted because it's been a long season, this is not done, and the players are real competitors. They deserve it.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Toronto FC – Jonathan Osorio
Osorio was in fine form in Toronto's triumph over Austin, notching a goal and an assist for Deandre Kerr's strike to secure the victory.
His showing took him to 100 regular season goal involvements for Toronto (48 goals and 52 assists), joining Sebastian Giovinco (120) as the only players to reach that milestone for the Reds in the MLS.
Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi
Having failed to find the back of the net in his last two MLS fixtures, Columbus' joint-top scorer Rossi will be hopeful of returning to form at BMO Field.
In his previous four fixtures with Toronto, the Uruguayan has notched three goals and three assists and has also won three of his four meetings with the Reds (D1).
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN
The Crew come into the encounter having lost one of their previous five away matches (W3 D1), scoring 12 goals in that run.
Columbus have also got the better of their opponents of late and are unbeaten in their last six MLS matches against the Reds (W5 D1), outscoring Toronto 13-4 during their unbeaten run.
Toronto, however, are looking for their first league win in fixtures between the two teams since May 2021, but will have to do so on home soil, a ground where they have triumphed only twice in their last seven home matches (L5).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Toronto FC – 17.8%
Draw – 19.9%
Columbus Crew – 62.3%
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-2 Los Angeles FC: Sanchez strike closes gap at top of West
Ilie Sanchez's stoppage-time goal secured Los Angeles FC a 2-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS on Sunday.
Sergi Palencia's own goal had cancelled out Mateusz Bogusz's early opener at BC Place, but LAFC found their winner last on to close the gap to leaders LA Galaxy to just three points in the Western Conference.
David Martinez cut Vancouver's defence open with a throughball to Bogusz, who dinked a lovely finish over Yohei Takaoka from a tight angle on the left just 34 seconds into the match.
Bogusz then thought he had doubled their advantage after springing on a brilliant save from Takaoka to deny Palencia, but it was ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
The Spaniard handed the Whitecaps their equaliser – he gave away a free-kick on the left and got the final contact on Sebastian Berhalter's free-kick to help it past Hugo Lloris.
Having weathered the storm from Vancouver after the equaliser, including a clearance off the line by Timothy Tillman, LAFC found a late winner, with Sanchez firing in from the edge of the box.
And Brian White, who had glanced a header narrowly wide earlier in the second half, squandered the chance for an even later equaliser, flicking another effort off the far post in the dying seconds.
Data Debrief: Quick out of the blocks
Despite their winning goal coming late in the game, it was actually LAFC's quick start that set them up for the win - Bogusz's goal was their fastest in MLS this season, and their second fastest in history.
They have also scored nine goals in the opening 15 minutes of games, with only St. Louis City (12) and New York City FC (11) netting more.
Meanwhile, Vancouver have now lost each of their last three matches, their longest such streak since October 2022-March 2023.
Mona, Hillel kickstart 2024 Canopy Insurance/JISA Alberga Cup season quest with impressive victories
The 2023 Canopy Insurance/JISA Under-12 Alberga Cup finalists, Mona Preparatory and Hillel Academy kickstarted their quest for victory on Saturday when they played opening matches against St. Hughs Preparatory and American International School of Kingston (AISK) at the National Water Commission’s (NWC) Mona field and the AISK field respectively. The 2023 Cup finalists were 2 of 17 matches played across 5 zones set for both Kingston & St. Catherine.
Mona, who played in Zone 4, won their opener against St. Hugh’s and were in high spirits as they believe they have a chance to repeat history. Coached by Vivian Nelson they clocked 11-0; while unsure if his team is ready, he is looking forward to them playing some good football.
"I’m not sure if we’re ready but the season [already] started so we’ll just play. At 11-0, they’re just showing that they picked up from where they left off so, it was a good game, the first game; we just want to see where they are after the pre-season, so [it] never really looked bad, the playing is okay, but I think as we go along we expect some improvement.”
Nelson said that compared to last year, it’s more or less the same results from the first match.
“If we judge by that [match] then, the season is the same; we’re hoping to get there [on the top spot] again. We have an ongoing program plus some of these youngsters play football right round [the year] so when they’re not with me they’re with the Dare to Dream Football Academy; we put in some work in pre-season; expect youngsters [to be] youngsters and score. [But] I’m looking at how they play the position, their discipline and how they control the game.
Noting that while they’re playing for victory, he’s not looking at teams now, he’s focused on his team to see where the season takes them, whilst praising his competent returning players.
Their opening opponent’s coach, Pryce of St. Hughs Prep believes they can get better.
“We have a fairly young team this year, a group of grade 5 boys coming out to play some really nice football, they were up against the defending champions which is very good and for me they performed the best they could.” said Pryce.
“The boys are growing, they are coming along, they have a lot more experience to gain so the more they play, the better they’ll get over the years. They’re just here to put on a good show for themselves this year and get some confidence going into next year’s season. They just need to play faster and a bit more confident.”
In another St. Andrew match, 2023 finalist Hillel, the Zone 2 favorite, took home the gold with a 7-2 score at the end of the match to secure their move to the next round. While both teams were tied at halftime, Hillel took things up a notch in the second half to score 5 more points.
“It was our first game and we just wanted to see how the boys would play real competitively, and they did well; apart from a few mistakes we got back in our game in the second half and scored some goals, tried to get the benchers in and get some experience for the new ones but all in all, we have more work to do because I’m quite sure there are better teams out there to play; we’re looking forward to that; we need the challenge to ensure our team is ready.” said coach Nicholas Locke of Hillel Academy.
Coach-nominated Players of the Match for the 2024 season’s opener included St. Hugh’s James Whittingham and Hillel’s Jace Lowe.
Other matches played in Saturday’s season opener included: Lannaman’s Prep VS Mount Alvernia Prep (2-0), Creative Kids VS Ardenne Prep (0-1), Emmanuel Christian Academy VS Portmore Missionary Prep (8-0) and Sts. Peter and Paul VS Our Lady of the Angels Prep (11-0).
Skinner compares 'immense and intense' Terland to Haaland
Erling Haaland may have hit unprecedented heights for Manchester City but Marc Skinner believes Manchester United have a similar talisman in Elisabeth Terland.
United boss Skinner likened Women's Super League star Terland to City's Premier League hero Haaland after the Norwegian scored twice in Sunday's 3-0 victory over Tottenham.
That marked her first two goals for United since joining from Brighton, having first blasted a volley home before looping another header over Becky Spencer.
Asked to describe Terland, Skinner said: "Intense in a good way. She is a person who is always focused, she doesn't dip off her focus whether it's pressing or whatever the task is, she's all in.
"I think she knows Haaland personally and I don't want to compare the two but the immense and intense action of both of them, that's how she performs."
Terland's heroics helped to ensure United's 100% record in the WSL this season stayed intact, with three wins and three clean sheets from three games.
The former Brighton forward, who found the net 13 times in the league last season, appeared all over the place against Spurs, attempting a game-high five shots with three of those on target.
Her two goals came from an expected goals tally of just 0.65, though, suggesting superior finishing from lower quality chances, something that will delight Skinner.
"I came to a club that wants to achieve big things. I know playing in a better team will make me better," Terland told Sky Sports.
"Part of my job is to score goals, it is great to get the first one for the club. A good win and I am proud of the team."
United finished fifth last campaign and lacked a regular scorer, with Nikita Parris finishing the term as the club's top scorer in the WSL with only eight goals.
Skinner knows the tide may now turn, however, with Terland firing up top.
"I just think she's an incredible talent," Skinner added.
"The beauty of her is I think she slows the moment and sees the opportunity under the most immense pressure."
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