Powers motm easily. Not his fault Torres and Buddle fumbled the ball away every time he got it to them. I had to switch to Philly at the half but came back at 70 when Serna checked in.
Congrats to Edson Buddle on his 99th goal in the MLS! Can't wait to see my friend #9 score his 100th goal next week in DEN.. I will be there to witness history as I'm in CO skiing at the moment in Aspen... Getting snow tonight through Monday.. This is going to be a fantastic week lol.. So happy for Edson.
There is no such thing as an ugly win because every win is beautiful especially when you snap a long, cold losing streak at BMO Field. Congrats to the boys. They may have been outplayed for large stretches of the match, twice had some luck on their side, and had to contend with a horrible, disgraceful pitch but they never caved and fought hard for 3 points. That's exactly what needs to happen on the road. It doesn't have to be pretty. It just has to be efficient. Back-to-back road victories, in difficult environments with difficult opponents, will sure as shit fuel the Rapids' confidence. It has to. They deserve a big applause from the Dick next week. Sitting 3-1-1 on. 10 pts., given our difficult opening schedule, has this guy grinning ear to ear. It's a good start and there is no reason the Rapids cannot build on it. There is room to grow but with 10 pts, the growing pains are less severe.
Buddle is NOT looking soft in the middle this season and I take this as a good sign of things to come!
I know a lot of people want to make Buddle the flavor of the week because he scored, but lets not forget he was garbage for basically the entire first 75 minutes of the game. Prior to the goal, every time he touched the ball it literally resulted in Toronto regaining possession. He is also conceded one the fouls that lead to Toronto hitting the post on the subsequent free kick. Powers and Piermayr, in my mind, had much steadier and more meaningful overall performances in the game. Not to mention our goal probably doesn't happen if Serna isn't brought on. Torres was good early on, but seemed to vanish after the first 20 minutes or so. The "gut" is a bit concerning as well.
I think the most impressive part of the goal was the team build up: Serna's drive to hawk down the ball, Powers' strong play and sneaky pass, and Buddle's finish. I really credit the goal to Serna. That late in the match, it would've been easy to give up on the play.
For me it was Powers no look layoff to Buddle that was main factor in getting goal. But he would of not gotten that chance without Serna and I believe Piermayr's cross.
Didn't get to watch the game live but was able to follow tweets and BS forum calls while having to slog through IKEA store with the family (ugh). I guess I didn't realize MLS Live now makes the games immediately available after completion for local broadcast black-outs, so I watched most minutes of the game later in the afternoon. Agree that not giving up on offense was key to taking the win. Our goal was a series of good decisions but after the cross left Piermayr's foot, it looked like a series of one-touch passes out of necessity b/c of the pressure from VAN defense. Well done on that one, especially Powers bolting to the end line to keep the ball in play back to Buddle. 10 points in 5 games puts us on course to about 70 points for the season....not bad . We'll see how SJ does today regarding their form, but hoping for a strong showing by the Rapids against the goons in Commerce City next week.
Not to take anything away from Cerna, but what do you think he was trying to do when he volleyed the Piermayr cross?
If you want to be a goal scorer you have to take a chance of half and quarter chance...I think he was trying to shoot and mis-hit the ball, but the initiative to take a chance without settling the ball on the crap field was there...well done!
Was nice to see the same back line in consecutive games, and they gave up very little in the way of chances during the run of play. Piermayr seems solid. I have to say I didn't mind one bit being in a "Wynne-less situation." I think it is better for Torres to start, as he did Sunday. He seems to need some time to find the rhythm of the game. The two real chances he had and missed looked like the tentative efforts of a forward who lacks confidence. Maybe if he can just break through, the goals will come. I also think that, at least for now, Brown is much better coming off the bench. How did we ever survive what had to have been at least 15 set pieces for TFC with corners and dangerous free kicks combined? Sure the woodwork helped, but Irwin came up big a couple of times and TFC squandered chances galore. Serna changed the game. Maybe the next game he finally breaks through with a brace!
I agree. I wonder if opposing teams adjust mentally pre-game to his inclusion in the starting line up and decide their mind set/plan for defending him. Coming off the bench, the game is already flowing and when he pops on it's more difficult to adjust positioning to his speed. Just a thought. Though we have been winning, I am wondering if musical chairs with our attacking players has stifled in-game gelling at all.