Saturday December 9, 2017--Toronto FC vs Seattle Sounders game review MLS Cup Final (by Rocket Robin)

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I've found that I don't have the time to do a game play by play with all the writeups I'm doing
covering other leagues. I will skip the details and maybe do that after the season is over.

Result and details of the Saturday December 9, 2017 playoff game between
Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders held at BMO Field in Toronto at 4:00pm.
This was for the 2017 MLS Cup.

66 min...Toronto FC Jozy Altidore GOAL...TFC Victor Valdez receives pass at 60 yards on edge of center
circle in own end and he passes forward to TFC Sebastian Giovinco on Seattle side of circle. Giovinco
passes up middle from 50 yards around Sea Chad Marshall to charging Altidore who has split the defence.
He gets to ball at 30 yards and continues run up middle to 15 yards and steps left to shoot over sliding
goalie Stefan Frei at 12 yards and ball flies into right side of net.

93 min...Toronto FC Victor Vazquez GOAL...Vazquez brings ball down left wing from 40 yard line. He runs
to 30 yard line and rolls centering pass to TFC Sebastian Giovinco in center of field. TFC are now
on a 3 on 2 break. Giovinco rolls ball forward for TFC Armando Cooper to split the defence and while
just wide right of post takes pass at 15 yards and rounds sliding goalie at 12 yards and shoots 8 yarder
from right that hits the right post about halfway up and bounces across box and charging Vazquez in middle
who was behind defender taps ball from 6 yards into right side of open net.

95 min...game ends.

Final Score:...Toronto FC...2...Seattle Sounders...0...

Attendance was not announced but we knew it was a sellout a week ago from ticket sites and the
league published it as 30584.

Jozy Altidore was announced as the winner of the MVP for this game. He was the obvious choice because
he scored the all important first goal and the back-story this week of whether he'd be able to start
or even play after his ankle injury in their last game. I felt him or Michael Bradley for his clearances,
passing, and control of the backline.

Referee Allen Chapman gave out no Yellow cards until added time when Victor Vazquez pulled off his shirt
after scoring their second goal. The game ended so soon after it wasn't even announced. He didn't fall
for lame Penalty calls for either team although TFC dominated this category in the same ratio as shots
on target and cornerkicks.

I had a feeling TFC would win because of their supperior record but was a little worried when they hadn't
scored by the end of the first half. It isn't always the better team that wins as happened last year
when the Sounders won in Penalty kicks. TFC never had an insurance goal until the game was
almost over. Sounders had not allowed a goal against through the playoffs--that was four games
until tonight.

The best of the non-scoring chances started early when after 1 minute TFC Victor Vazquez took a low cornerkick
from the right that bounced and TFC Chris Mavinga skied the ball from the right side of the box over
to the left side and TFC Drew Moor headed a 5 yarder over the bar just missing the top right corner. 9 minutes
had TFC Michael Bradley chip a pass from 55 yards on the left over to TFC Jozy Altidore in the center on the
edge of the box who chested the ball down over to TFC Jonathan Osorio even with the left post and he shot
an 18 yarder that the diving goalie pushed wide left of the post. Next minute Vazquez from 55 yards on the left
chipped a ball that bounced through the middle and the charging TFC Sebastian Giovinco got to the ball
at 18 yards on the right and took a 10 yard shot that was tipped by the sliding goalie and
defender Chad Marshall just wide left of the post. (Giovinco had not scored a goal from 'open' play since
August 27). 22 minutes had Bradley run up the middle and tap a pass forward to Altidore at 30 yards who spun
around and rushed up the middle and tapped a short pass to Giovinco at 22 yards on the left. Giovinco cut
around a defender to take a 12 yard shot from the left that the goalie palmed over the bar in the center of goal.
40 minutes had Vazquez shoot a low 30 yarder from the right between a crowd of players that had the goalie
dive and push the ball wide left of the post and enabled a defender to clear. 47 minutes had TFC Justin Morrow
run on the left wing to the 10 yard line and cut a low cross between players and TFC Steven Beitashour
charged to the ball and bent a 20 yarder from the right just over the top left corner of goal. 63 minutes
had Beitashour rush down the right sideline from the 40 yard line squeezing by three Sounders players one by one
en route to near the right top corner of the box and he rolled a centering pass along the edge of the 18 yard box
to Altidore who stopped and while even with right post and just before sliding defender Roman Torres upended him
passed to Giovinco who one-touched an 18 yard shot down the middle and the goalie at 3 yards crumpled and pushed
the ball wide right of the post.

TFC goalie Alex Bono had not much to do in this game but Stefan Frei had some incredible saves on dives
and pushaways to keep Sounders in the game until the end. I counted Sounders with only one shot on target
in each half. Me and a guy two seats over mentioned this both times it happened. At 29 minutes
Joevin Jones took an 18 yard shot from the left that was caught by Bono. 48 minutes had Clint Dempsey bounce
a low 22 yard shot through a crowd of players that Bono smothered.

Sounders defenders effectively headed away and cleared numerous crosses into their box or TFC would have
had even more chances.

League stats backed me up on the Sounders with 2 shots on target against TFC's 11. In cornerkicks, TFC also
dominated at 11 to 3.

Michael Bradley ended up playing in defence in the middle almost as a center back to make four in the
back row. TFC had drawn a bit of criticism by pundits for having their three man backline breached down
the middle a few times over the last few months.

The players started their celebration in the north end because this was where the game ended. A portable
stage was quickly erected at midfield near the west sideline with a backdrop which blocked our view
on the east side. The players accepted their medals and the MLS Cup was presented. The players then
continued on to the south end to celebrate with their hard core fans. Chris Mavinga eventually broke
away with the trophy and carried it down the east sideline so we would be to see it up close. He did the
same thing when TFC won the Eastern Conference championship.

I was near enough to the Sounders travelling fans to hear them boo Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore who
the American fans cost them an appearance in next summer's World Cup. The fan in the row above me was
booing Sounders forward and fellow American Clint Dempsey so I think much of the fallout is just because
these players play for another MLS team.

TFC fans also booed MLS commissioner Don Garber being introduced and when he praised the Sounders players
before presenting the MLS Cup to MLSE's (TFC owners) Larry Tanenbaum who was ready to hand the trophy
to TFC captain Michael Bradley.

Jozy Altidore pledged his loyalty to Toronto after being named the MVP of the game. He also had the only
goal for TFC in their series against Columbus where he was hobbling for minutes before a quick outburst
sent him in to score. Today it looked like he wasn't effected by his ankle injury and was subbed out
at 85 minutes just to bring in another defender to protect their lead.

Jonathan Osorio started the game for TFC as the only Canadian and played for 83 minutes until he cramped
up but Armando Cooper was conveniently standing on the sideline waiting to sub in so this may have been
prearranged. It turned out he was the only Canadian to play today and the only Canadian on the bench
was Tosaint Ricketts. This is an all time low for the team. Some of their Canadians haven't seen
action for at least three months! That's always been my only criticism of TFC.

The game ended just as my feet were getting numb so I was glad it ended in regulation time. I did have
a warmer parka this year, I didn't have to rely on handwarmers (as now that I knew what they were from
last year, I brought some to put inside by mittens), and the game started while it was still daytime
and it was just slightly higher in temperature than last year.

I didn't see my seatmates this game because seat allocation was controlled by the league but
found a comparable seat when I signed on about three minutes after the sale window opened.
I did get a 'Hello' from our longtime usher and also Richard Scott from the CSA who I saw earlier
today at the 'United As One' presentation this morning. This is the campaign to have
Canada, the USA, and Mexico jointly host the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup.

I noticed some fans starting to wear 2017 MLS Championship scarves while the players were
still on the field celebrating. By the time I hit the merchandize stand the clerk said
they had already sold out. I'd read on the jumbotron that I could also buy this kind of
stuff online. Later when I got home I saw that the scarf was for sale at $32 and by then
my elation had cooled down. I'd already picked up a free sweatshirt from courier company
DHL and a free scarf from Bridgestone Tires for filling out an online survey. "If any
of you are from Canada, where it says 'zip code' just type in any five digits". The
company colours are yellow and black so if I ever go to a "Save the (Columbus) Crew" rally
I will know what to bring.

I jumped on a streetcar almost exactly one hour after the final whistle. With one of the subways
closed for the weekend for track repair (again) it took me over two hours to get home with
all the detours necessary.

Hey this was exactly my 100th game this season with my attending MLS, USL, League 1 Ontario
and Canadian National team games held in Toronto.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
Twitter RocketRobin01

stats from MLSsoccer.com
Match Information

Goals and Assists
67'    TFC Jozy Altidore            Assisted By: Sebastian Giovinco 
90'+4' TFC Víctor Vázquez          

Disciplinary
90'+5' TFC Víctor Vázquez           Reason: Delaying the restart of play 

Lineup

Toronto FC  
10 F Sebastian Giovinco 
17 F Jozy Altidore     (86')
25 G Alexander Bono 
33 D Steven Beitashour 
 3 D Drew Moor 
23 D Chris Mavinga 
 2 D Justin Morrow 
 4 M Michael Bradley 
18 M Marco Delgado      (90'+3')
21 M Jonathan Osorio    (85')
 7 M Víctor Vázquez 

Bench
 1 G Clint Irwin 
26 D Nicolas Hasler 
15 D Eriq Zavaleta 
 8 M Benoit Cheyrou      (90'+3')
31 M Armando Cooper      (85')
87 F Tosaint Ricketts 
 6 F Nick Hagglund       (86') 

Manager Greg Vanney  

Seattle Sounders FC 
17 F Will Bruin 
24 G Stefan Frei 
18 D Kelvin Leerdam 
29 D Román Torres 
14 D Chad Marshall 
33 D Joevin Jones        (90'+1')
 7 M Cristian Roldan 
 4 M Gustav Svensson 
10 M Nicolás Lodeiro 
 2 M Clint Dempsey 
 8 M Víctor Rodríguez    (71')

Bench
 1 G Tyler Miller 
15 D Tony Alfaro 
 5 D Nouhou Tolo         (90'+1')
13 M Jordan Morris       (71')
19 M Harry Shipp 
27   Lamar Neagle 
21   Jordy Delem 

Manager  Brian Schmetzer 
 
Officials
Referee  Allen Chapman 
Assistant Referee  Adam Wienckowski 
Assistant Referee  Jeremy Hanson 
Fourth Official  Kevin Stott 
Video Assistant Referee  David Gantar 

Match Information
MLS Playoffs at BMO Field
Toronto, ON
Attendance 30584
Weather Clear

Team Statistics
TOR                        SEA
 22     Shots                7 
 11     Shots on Target      2 
 10     Shots off Target     4 
  1     Blocked Shots        1 
 11     Corners              3 
 28     Crosses             18 
  1     Offsides             1 
  3     Fouls                9 
  1     Yellow Cards         0 
  0     Red Cards            0 
524     Total Passes       393 
 84 %   Passing Accuracy    81 % 
 56.9 % Possession          43.1 % 
 58     Duels Won           24 
 17     Tackles Won          5 
  2     Saves                9 
 29     Clearances          35

Toronto FC starters