C.J. Sapong debut goal leads Toronto FC to victory over NYCFC
They say there’s no place like home. C.J. Sapong wasted little time making BMO Field his.
Toronto FC’s new No. 9 scored just 22 seconds into the second half which proved to be the game-winning goal as TFC picked up their first win since March 18.
Left-back Raoul Petretta was in Bob Bradley’s starting lineup until an injury during warmups kept him out of this contest. TFC Academy product Kobe Franklin took his spot in the XI.
Kickoff was delayed by nearly 20 minutes because of a fire alarm, set off by the pre-game pyrotechnics. Referee Armando Villarreal sent both teams back to their change rooms, and when they returned for a five minute warmup before kickoff, Franklin had taken Petretta’s place.
The Reds had the majority of the chances during the first half, most of which came from connections between Lorenzo Insigne and Sapong, who walked straight into TFC’s starting XI after Tuesday’s trade from Nashville SC.
The first attempt on target took place in the 8th minute — Lorenzo Insigne found the American striker in space, and Sapong struck the ball towards NYCFC ‘keeper Luis Barraza who parried it away.
Those two players combined yet again, this time in the 35th minute as Sapong wasn’t far from opening his TFC account.
TFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson spent six seasons with NYCFC and won an MLS Cup along the way. The only major play he was called into action for was in the 40th minute when he made a save on NYC attacker Matías Pellegrini.
It took Toronto no time at all to draw first blood after the restart. Many spectators were still on the concourse or getting back to their seats when Sapong put the ball in the back of the net. Credit to Richie Laryea for making one of his quality runs down the right flank to find his new teammate, who did the rest.
TFC’s defence did a formidable job in preventing any dangerous attacks from New York throughout the second 45.
Sean Johnson preserved a clean sheet, his fourth of the season.
Post-game, Sapong shared his thoughts on his play with Insigne:
“He attracts so much attention, he can create space at any moment. That’s something that I’m going to have to get used to. I’m in more of a position to be able to control and get a good shot on target,” said Sapong.
Head coach Bob Bradley commented on his team’s performance tonight.
“A bunch of guys played well. C.J. gives us something a little bit different. Alonso [Coello] played well. Kobe (Franklin) played well,” Bradley said. “He [Sapong] is smart defensively. He’s not pressing all the time, he’s taking away passing lanes. He’s got good timing, not only to hold the ball but to come away from the defenders in certain moments. He’s unselfish with his running in the box.”
Carrying momentum from Saturday night’s win into what will be a busy month of May is a priority from Bradley and his coaching staff.
“You build on it by reacting a little bit faster. You shut down a few more transitions. You have momentum when you keep doing all these little things better. That’s the most important part of how you build things and keep going,” Bradley said.
Toronto FC is back home at BMO Field next weekend when they take on the Eastern Conference leading New England Revolution on Saturday night. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
C J Sapong’s comment describing Insigne says it all ! “he attracts so much attention he can create space at any moment. I’m in more of a position to be able to control and get a good shot on target” This my friends is what statistics don’t tell you, the unknowledgeable fan who mentions the worthless ” completed pass” stat that Oso had last week simply doesn’t get this game. My hope is that MLSE can free up some money to bring in a creative midfielder in July, suggestion maybe layoff some of the analytics department, a few of the scouting staff, and one or two physios, you know the ones who suggested we should limit Lorenzo to only 15 minutes a few weeks ago when we threw away points against Atlanta.
Insigne definitely played well my concern though is it seems at times isolated and not getting support when he has the ball on the wing. Sapong played well and hopefully he can be a difference maker because akinola and peruzza are cpl…depending on how sapong does between now and July, to me should determine what position our dp should be. If sapong does well a good creative midfielder who can play fast if he doesn’t then get a dp number
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I think support is going to come from player dialogue as they play together. If you heard CJ after the game, mentioned he and Rosted spoke at 1/2 time about link up play – right before Rosted linked to Laryea to CJ. So CJ is talking about what he sees and he wants the ball so will help others in the open space created by Insigne.
What I saw Saturday only made me worry about balance and the team using all the options in cycles. Insigne has taken over the bulk of attacking touches. So Fede and Ritchie are taking a backseat after being central to attack. When they are working both sides then less attention on Insigne, more space up the middle for CJ, Oso or whomever. For sure, Alonso can handle that level of dialogue and teamwork.
Just as long as Bob doesn’t say much, let’s the players figure it out, it will work.
Love what you say at the end of your comment Coach about Bob “doesn’t say much” I too would prefer that he just fills out the pre game line up card and that’s it, I want him to stay out of any tactics talk, just let Insigne and Berna run the show on the field, this is what Vanney did when he was here, just let Seba call all the shots. We are starting to see that Vanney was never a good coach with what is going on at LA Galaxy.
The game was a snooze fest. TFC can’t do anything with the ball. Insigne isn’t effective, even Bernardeschi wasn’t good. Well done to Sapong, he scored a tap while being unmarked from 4 yards out. Great stuff, he’s now tied with Kerr on league goals for the season. Maybe next game he’ll score again and then he’ll be tied with Laryea…
Hedges and Rosted look solid. That looks like a great partnership back there. Franklin looked decent in his first start. Laryea was good as always. Coello looked good. That’s about it. Bob’s built a decent enough roster, now bring in someone to get them over the line.
Or, you could compare it to the past 36 months and say “ok, that’s progress, thanks”.
Every game Insigne further demonstrates the crowd he draws, where, when etc. once he’s played a couple more games in the starting line the open spaces will be taken advantage of.
They not only have to get used to the new defensive structure (that actually works) but they also have to refine how they filter the antiquated tactics Bob is feeding them so they can use their skills offensively.
Anything is progress compared to the past two years. Conceding 65 league goals instead 66 would be progress, should have we thank them if they do that? 2 wins in 10 games, we should be thankful? They had a better opening 10 games last season. Two Euro winners on the team, an entire new starting 11 and watching them play is enough to induce narcolepsy.
You see how LAFC play? You see how Seattle play? You see how Philly play? Even St. Louis, an expansion team, play better soccer. So what are we even doing here? Barely winning games and playing dead soccer, what’s even the point?
There is definitely progress after 10 games. Sure we only have 2 wins, but we also only have 2 losses. We have way more clean sheets after 10 games this season then we did all last season.
This team is significantly better talent wise then the last years team. All that is missing is our offense. We may have two Euro winners on the team, but one was injured until recently.
How Sapong fits in between now and the summer transfer window will determine our next step (i.e key addition). Also this team still needs to fill in depth pieces so that we don’t have a significant drop off when we lose a starter.
Your standards for this club are in the absolute gutter bro, my goodness.
HH you have come up with some great posts on WTR but saying” Insigne is not effective” is not one you should be proud of. I take it that you were having a bad day?
I’m not faulting Insigne, I think he’s a good player. I’m blaming Bob.
I understand what u r saying. Insigne too often has no support he gets the ball and he is surrounded by 2 or 3 guys with no one from our side coming to offer support or an outlet. Which is why at times he seems to be spinning his tires…he will continue to give us moments of brilliance like his goal vs Philly but with a real coach he could better utilize his skills…I think this is where u and Mr burns have that misunderstanding. The difference between sapong and our cpl strikers gave us the win, but have a number 9 that is more clinical would get more out the Italians and results as a whole…but bob thought diomande ayo and peruzza were good enough to start the season…our place in the standing is solely on bob.
Sapong is finished dude, just accept it. We can all see it, there’s no use in pretending otherwise. This massive discrepancy in skill that people think exists between him and the other strikers on our team isn’t actually there.
All that bringing in Sapong does now is steal minutes away from Kerr that he would be using to develop as a player. I’m not saying that Kerr is guaranteed to bag 15 goals but if the option is play a Sapong or Kerr, then I’m going with the latter.