A very difficult game but a TFC team that is rapidly returning to the form we know and love. I think it may be a little too early yet to pull off a hug win but if they do (or even tie) it will be a statement and a big stride toward the playoffs. If they lose then, well, these aren't points I'm counting on when assessing playoff chances.
TFC was robbed. That penalty call was terrible. Bono got all ball, for one thing, but Martinez was clearly diving. You don't throw your hands up in the air when you are legitimately fouled - you put them out in front of you to stop from falling.
I'm a neutral with respect to this game and came to this forum looking for opinion about the penalty call. Not much so far. My take is WoW! How could that be called? Keeper got all ball before any contact with player who tripped over the extended arm. If that had been a tackle by a field player and the attacker had tripped over the extended leg (after poking the ball away with a toe), a trip would never have been called. Unless I didn't see something, of course.
It's a big point away against a team at the top of the table. Penalty or not, this team is looking good. I like their chances. Lots of season left to play, I'm not looking at a playoff spot, I'm looking at the battle to have that #4 seed to get that home playoff game.
To make the playoffs we'll need to play at a 1.8 PPG pace for the rest of the season, pretty doable. To make fourth we'll need to play at a 2.5 PPG pace, not too promising.
The game had a very CCL feel to it. Atlanta's style of play is similar to the way that Tigres and Club America play. They missed a bunch of chances, not unlike Tigres and America, and we capitalized on the few that we had. I'd say that winning the Canadian Championship has to be the biggest priority right now. It's more attainable at this moment than the playoffs.
I listened to the Max Bretos & Herc Gomez podcast, where they spent quite a bit of time discussing whether Almiron spat at Mavinga. I’ve found very little mention of the incident, and I didn’t watch the game. Any idea if anything is happening on this?