Well that's it ladies and gentlemen, the final score here from BMO Field is Toronto FC 1, Philadelphia Union 1. Signing off, I'm Eevry Goren, thank you for joining me!
FULL TIME
93' Altidore and Sapong collide in the box but no penalty is given, Altidore gets a yellow card for throwing the ball.
NO PENALTY
90' Bradley's looping cross is cleared by Tribbett.
88' Osorio earns a corner for Toronto, Bradley steps up to take it and the Cheyrou hits the volley on the bounce, wide of goal.
87' Daniel Lovitz enters the match for Steven Beitashour
86' Jozy Altidore pounces on the loose ball from Mo Babouli but his volley and the ensuing follow-up shot are wide of goal. Philadelphia will be thanking their lucky stars at the moment.
MISS
85' Blake rises to claim Michael Bradley's cross.
83' Philadelphia are let off the hook, Cheyrou played a ball over the top to Jozy Altidore who finds himself one on one with Blake, but Altidore is called for the handball.
80' Bedoya sprints down the left wing and sends a cross into the box but there are no Union players to receive it.
79' Charlie Davies enters the match for Chris Pontius
78' Beitashour plays a cross into the box but it's cleared out to a Toronto player and they start the attack up once again. Philadelphia look stuck at the moment.
76' Mo Babouli enters the match for Jordan Hamilton
75' Rosenberry concedes a corner to Toronto but it's cleared.
70' Morrow plays the one-two pass with Osorio who beats several defenders, returns the pass to Morrow who shoots and scores.
GOAL TORONTO
68' Bedoya finds Ilsinho on the edge of the box, he dribbles and tries to shoot but Irwin gets his angle right and makes the save.
67' Ilsinho enters the match for Fabian Herbers.
66' Bradley tries to chip the ball but it's cleared by Tribbett.
65' Yellow card to Marquez, free kick to Toronto.
61' Altidore turns and shoots on the edge of the box but his shot is blocked for a corner.
60' Osorio avoids the tackle of Fabinho beautifully and sends a cross into the box but no one is there to receive it.
59' Hamilton rises to head the ball but his effort is wide of goal.
58' Marky Delgado enters the match for Wil Johnson.
54' Bedoya is writhing around on the ground in pain following a foul at the halfway line.
53' Cheyrou plays a beautifully threaded long ball to Osorio whose pass is deflected to Altidore but Blake claims the ball before Altidore can get a shot off.
52' Altidore's effort curls wide of goal for a goal kick.
51' A Pontius giveaway results in a Toronto free kick.
49' Osorio loses possession, Carroll latches onto the loose ball and tries to play the ball across the face of goal to Sapong who couldn't quite get onto it. Toronto lucky not to be 2-0 down.
48' Sapong intercepts yet another pass and plays it out wide to Pontius whose cross is headed away to safety.
47' Andre Blake is off his line to tackle the ball off of Altidore but Altidore is offside.
46' Jordan Hamilton latches onto a Michael Bradley pass, shimmies on the edge of the box and lets one rip but Andre Blake catches it with ease.
Second half kickoff is upon us!
HALF TIME
45' Sapong turns his defender and Bedoya shoots, Herbers latches onto the rebound and hits it toward goal but Irwin saves brilliantly.
SAVE IRWIN
44' Altidore is played onto goal by a Will Johnson long ball but he's offside.
43' Herbers nods the ball onto Sapong bu he can't get his feet right and loses the ball.
42' Rosenberry sprint to the center to break up a dangerous looking Toronto fast break.
35' Blake sprints off his line to make a save but is hit by the trailing leg of Jordan Hamilton. Despite concerns over a potential head injury he appears to be okay.
34' Cheyrou is crowded off the ball and Rosenberry does brilliantly to prevent the corner.
25' Alejandro Bedoya makes a run in between the Toronto centerbacks after Herbers' through pass and chips the goalkeeper to put Philadelphia up 1-0.
GOAL PHILADELPHIA
23' Fabian Herbers is cleared out by Will Johnson in a rugby style tackle, free kick to Philadelphia. Johnson receives a yellow card.
17' Bedoya earns a corner after having his shot blocked from the left side of the box.
6' Brian Carroll plays Herbers into the box but makes a save on the German's shot. All Philadelphia early on, great chance from Herbers.
SAVE TORONTO
4' Philadelphia with another early chance as Chris Pontius' shot from the edge of the box goes high and wide.
2' Fabinho swings in a cross from the wing but C.J. Sapong's header is wide of goal.
KICKOFF
And we're off!
Toronto: Clint Irwin, Steven Beitashour, Nick Hagglund, Drew Moor, Justin Morrow, Michael Bradley, Will Johnson, Benoit Cheyrou, Jonathan Osorio, Jordan Hamilton, Jozy Altidore.
Philadelphia: Andre Blake, Rosenberry, Tribbett, Marquez, Fabinho, Creavalle, Carroll, Herbers, Bedoya, Pontius, Sapong.
And our starting line ups are out!
Welcome to VAVEL USA’s LIVE coverage of the 2016 Major League Soccer regular season action. Saturday night’s MLS Eastern Conference matchup between the Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC will take place at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada. This is the second matchup between the two sides this season. I’m Eevry Goren, and I’ll be providing minute-to-minute updates, commentary, and results of the match. The game starts at 5 PM EST and there will be coverage pregame, mid-game, and postgame.
The game will broadcast in Philadelphia on The Comcast Network, in Toronto on TSN2 anded via MLS LIVE.
The head referee will be Ismail Elfath. The two assistant referees will be Peter Manikowski and Phil Briere. The fourth official will be Silviu Petrescu.
As mentioned above, this is the second matchup between the two clubs this season. Back in the middle of August, Toronto put together a convincing performance in a 3-1 win over Philadelphia at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester. All three of Toronto’s megastars (Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Seabastian Giovinco) made their presence known in the match. Giovinco and Altidore both registered a goal and Bradley added an assist of his own.
Let’s take a look at the two teams’ placement in the MLS Eastern Conference.
Currently, Toronto has earned 47 points through 29 games, which gives them a two-point lead on second and third place, New York Red Bulls and New York City FC. In the Supporters’ Shield standings, Toronto is five points back, with a game in hand, on current leader, FC Dallas.
With a win on Saturday night, Toronto can lock in a spot in the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, which would be the club’s second playoff appearance since its founding in 2007. Toronto also made the playoffs via the knockout round but lost to fellow Canadian side, Montreal Impact.
In their last match in MLS play, Toronto rallied from a two goal second-half deficit to tie New York Red Bulls, 3-3. New York forward Bradley Wright-Phillips contributed a brace, while Altidore added a second-half brace of his own to earn his team a point at home.
On the other side of the pitch, Philadelphia comes into Saturday’s match with 41 points through 30 games, which puts them in fourth place and four points behind second and third place in the MLS Eastern Conference.
For Philadelphia to clinch a spot in the playoffs, their magic number is to earn eight points in their last four games to claim a spot in the playoff on their own accord. This number takes into account the possible points that D.C. United and Orlando City SC can maximally achieve is 49 points currently. A win on Saturday will certainly go a long way to putting pressure on the other chasing teams in the Eastern Conference.
In their last match, Philadelphia fell to Portland Timbers at Providence Park in Portland, 2-1. Chris Pontius continued his excellent 2016 campaign by adding a goal in the 47th minute to immediately answer a 46th minute Portland midfielder Diego Valeri goal.
One key from that match was centerback Joshua Yaro receiving two yellow cards and a subsequent red card in the second half match. Due to the red card, Yaro will be unavailable for Saturday’s match. This likely means that centerback Ken Tribbett will get the start.
Back in August’s loss to Toronto, Tribbett had a rough first half against Toronto’s potent attack of Altidore and Giovinco. Expect Philadelphia Union Head Coach Jim Curtin to try to give his backline more help this time around to try to deal with Giovinco’s skill and speed.
One possible boost could be the introduction of Maurice Edu back into the first team. In his Wednesday press conference, Curtin told the press that Edu is up for selection into the 18 for Saturday’s game. Edu has not played this season due to recovery from a tibia stress fracture and has recently been rehabbing with Union USL affiliate, Bethlehem Steel FC.
However, there is one caveat. Giovinco is considered questionable for Saturday’s match, according to MLS’ official injury report. While the loss of Giovinco is huge, Toronto still have Bradley, Altidore as well as many other attack pieces that could alleviate that loss.
Another portion of Toronto’s offense will be missing as well. Toronto midfielder Armando Cooper has been suspended due to a poor challenge in last Sunday’s draw against New York.
This is a crucial matchup for Philadelphia. They are winless in their last three games and need to gain some momentum in their last four games before the playoffs. With Saturday’s match against a bonafide elite playoff team, it will serve as a good measuring stick before the playoff begin next month.