Toronto FC by the numbers: Atlanta United 2-1 TFC

From what we can gather from John Herdman’s post-match press conference, Gavran assumed the game was going to end as soon as he cleared the ball downfield. He thought he was alone in the box. Instead, Jamal Thiaré did his best Undertaker impression on Gavran and came out of nowhere to score the goal in the last possible seconds of the match.

3.8

The IFAB law that refers to a player leaving and re-entering the field of play during a match. Some of our immediate reactions to this play were: “He’s left the field of play, he can’t come back!” Well, he can. The rule states: “A player who crosses a boundary line as part of a play does not commit an offence.” If you watch the replay above, Thiare took a drink of water from the bottle next to the net before hiding with intent. No problem with that.

By the way, check out some of the FAQs on the IFAB Laws website. Some of the questions include scenarios involving spitting, time wasting and players refusing to leave the field. Sounds a lot like the Copa America, doesn’t it? Canada will play Yeferson Soteldo and Venezuela on Friday night, which means more shenanigans guaranteed. Maybe we’ll see this move and the madness that follows:

8

The number of goals scored by newly named MLS All-Star Federico Bernadeschi this season. It’s refreshing to see a revitalized Berna scoring goals with his new hairstyle and Samson-style goal-scoring prowess (except from the penalty spot).

The last time a player broke this record was in 2022, when Jesus Jiménez started the season with a bang with seven goals in his first nine matches and finished the season with nine goals in a TFC jersey. Jiménez was then traded to FC Dallas in February 2023 in exchange for Brandon Servania. Jiménez wallowed on the bench in Dallas and played just 710 minutes for the club, mostly as a substitute.

Where is he currently? In Greece, where he plays with OFI Crete in the Greek Super League. He played 400 minutes and scored against Panathinaikos in March.

53

That’s how many seconds it took Bernardeschi to equalize after the start of the second half. After watching almost every minute of the Euros and many Copa Americas, it seems to be a new trend to try to play the ball long on kickoffs. I liken this strategy to American football kickoffs where a group of players run up the field to get the ball.

In this case, Atlanta attempted the recovery with a long ball and pushed all its players onto the field. This resulted in a foul and a TFC counterattack, catching Atlanta too far down the field and scoring. Moreover, Italy also tried this tactic to start the second half against Switzerland in their EURO 2024 round of 16 match and it was a disaster as Switzerland counterattacked and scored 26 seconds after the start of the second half.

51%

Toronto FC’s possession percentage against Atlanta on Saturday. While it’s essentially a 50/50 split with Atlanta, half the possession on the road is generally not a bad thing. However, it showed how reluctant this TFC team is to move forward. Much of this possession was seen on TFC’s side of the field with passes between the backs and midfielders instead of the wingers and forwards. It was like watching England play. Do you think John Herdman is inspired by Gareth Southgate? Let’s hope not.

April 6

Shane O’Neill last played for Toronto FC before making a 90th minute appearance against Atlanta. O’Neill had been out of the lineup for 84 days after leaving the game against the Vancouver Whitecaps with a quadriceps injury. Before leaving, O’Neill had started seven consecutive matches for TFC and played 90 minutes in six of those seven. He had to leave the March 23 match early with a blow to the head. TFC needs some consistency in their lineup and O’Neill can provide some veteran stability at right back. Although Nicksoen Gomis was a great signing, he is only 22 years old and may not be quite ready to be an everyday starter in this league. Either way, he will benefit from O’Neill’s tutelage.

TFC have once again made a quick comeback and return home to face Orlando City on Wednesday night. The good news is that Orlando has been just as poor as TFC of late, winning just once in their last seven games. The bad news is that Orlando’s Duncan McGuire has yet to be traded to Europe and will likely score multiple goals against Toronto. If Blackburn management weren’t so incompetent, we wouldn’t have this problem!