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TFC hopes to continue surge vs. New York

Wed 6th, June 2007

Toronto, Ontario (Sports Network) - Toronto FC continued to turn its season around last week despite losing a number of players to national team duties.

After losing the first four games in franchise history, Toronto has won three of its last five and has lost just once during that stretch. With goalie Greg Sutton, among others, playing for the Canadian National Team last week, the expansion club proved it has plenty of firepower to compete in Major League Soccer. With goalie Srdjan Djekanovic making his MLS debut, Toronto posted a 2-1 win over Colorado, which is second in the Western Division. It helped give Toronto (3-5-1) some momentum for Wednesday's home match against Red Bull New York (5-2-2). In addition to playing well recently, Toronto has already developed one of the best home-field advantages in MLS. Toronto has all three of its wins at BMO Field and has won three of its last four in front of crowds averaging just under 20,000. The most impressive of those victories was last week. After going through a tough stretch early in the season where the roster changed almost daily, the club had started to gain some consistency. But there were concerns about chemistry and depth with so many players lost to the national team. "I felt (Saturday) was a vital three points. We had guys missing and our schedule was very tough coming into this," Toronto coach Mo Johnston said. "When you analyze the last four or five games, this team has battled. They've shown character and resilience." The biggest concern was in goal, but Djekanovic played well and made two saves in his debut. "I felt he handled it well, he thought he could have got to the goal, but when you come in (first start) - he recorded his first victory, I'm very happy for him," Johnston said. It didn't hurt that Danny Dichio and Andrew Boyens - who was only available because New Zealand's game was canceled - scored in the first 29 minutes to give Toronto a 2-0 lead. "I felt in the first half, we opened up a very good team," Johnston said. Newly acquired striker Jeff Cunningham hasn't scored in two games with Toronto, but Johnston knows his goals will come. The 2006 Golden Boot winner has made a huge difference on offense already, and does have one assist. "We created a bunch of chances - they didn't go in - but you know what, they're going to start going in," Johnston said, "because the amount of chances that (Cunningham) gets, he's going to start finishing them." New York is coming off just its second loss of the season - 3-2 to Kansas City - but it was hurt by playing down a man for more than a half when Clint Mathis was given a red card for the second time this season. "Obviously playing with 10 players certainly helped our opponent, although that's not an excuse," Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena said. "But obviously that is one of the differences." New York had a 1-0 lead thanks to Juan Pablo Angel's fourth goal in as many games when Mathis was sent off late in the first half. K.C. star striker Eddie Johnson took advantage in the second half and notched his second straight hat trick - a first in MLS history. "I wouldn't say they only played the long ball even though a bunch of balls beat us over the top. We played very poorly to start the second half. We got caught out," Arena said. "Give Kansas City credit - they did a good job of getting Eddie Johnson behind us." Although New York has fallen to third in the Eastern Division, it is one of the most dangerous team's in the league and it won't lose any players to international duties in the upcoming weeks. That could help the Red Bulls regain the top spot in the Eastern Division with first-place Kansas City losing Johnson and second-place New England losing Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston and Michael Parkhurst. All four players are on the United States' roster for the Gold Cup. New York is without Mathis and the injured Hunter Freeman, and regular goalie Ronald Waterreus is listed as questionable on the injury report. The Red Bulls did get Claudio Reyna back in the lineup last week after he missed time with an injury. New York could be all alone in first place by the end of the weekend because Kansas City and New England are off. The Red Bulls have just four days until they plays again, visiting D.C. United on Sunday. A win in either game will put New York back atop the division. Toronto will have a week off before hosting Western Division leader FC Dallas on June 17.