TFC Wraps up Season 5 with a draw in MLS action

Danny Kovermans scored in the 83rd minute to secure a 2-2 draw against the New England Revolution.

Coming off a 3-0 win against Dallas that secured qualification for the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals, TFC returned home on Saturday afternoon to conclude their fifth season. In front of 21,600 fans at BMO Field, the fans were provided with a high scoring match.

Despite starting the game slowly, TFC drew first blood in the 20th minute when Julian de Guzman forwarded the ball to Kovermans to get inside the box. Kovermans then placed a perfect low cross to a trailing Nick Soolsma who left-footed the ball into the left corner.

The Dutch duo almost scored a second goal three minutes later when Kovermans set up Soolsma who was unable to beat goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth for a second time.

As the first half progressed, the Revolution picked up the pace and applied pressure in the Toronto zone, leading to a Monsef Zerka goal in the 40th minute. Zerka redirected a corner kick under the crossbar with a header past goalkeeper Milos Kocic’s right hand.

The Revolutions picked up where they left off in the second half with a goal in the opening minute. Eric Avila had the ball stolen from outside the box which allowed Benny Feilhaber to set up Milton Caraglio who slid the ball into the wide-open goal.

Solid goalkeeping by Kocic kept the game at 2-1 after Caraglio and Zerka were both denied in the 67th and 76th minutes respectively.

In the final 15 minutes of the match, TFC was hungry was for an equalizer by moving Torsten Frings up to a more offensive spot. The move paid off in the 83rd minute when Frings created an opening for Avila who crossed the ball towards the box right onto Kovermans’ foot for a tap in. Kovermans’ goal was his 8th of the season in 10 MLS league matches.

The remainder of the match did not produce a winning goal as both teams settled for a 2-2 draw.

During the post-match conference TFC head coach Aron Winter thought the team “didn’t play a good game…were a little bit flat… It was not a good game。”he said, “the last game against Dallas, we had given a lot, and it’s the first time in our history that we have qualified in the quarter-final of the CONCACAF Champions League.”

TFC ends the season in 8th place in the nine-teamed Eastern Conference with 33 points, five points ahead of last place New England. Overall, TFC is ranked 16th out of the total 18 teams in MLS. This is the fifth consecutive season that the team has failed to reach the playoffs.