By: Adamo Marinelli
July 23, 2022
Toronto FC has struggled mightily on offense and defense all season long, sitting second last in the Eastern Conference with a record of 5-4-12 (19 points). They couldn’t generate plenty of goals, they frequently conceded in the first and last 15 minutes of matches and sloppy defensive play in their own half would lead to turnovers and counterattacks for their opponents.
In every game they played, it seemed like they would find a new way to lose. They would fix one issue from a previous game but in doing so, a new issue would arise.
TFC lost their last two games without scoring a goal, a 2-0 loss to Chicago and a 1-0 loss to Montreal. Their inability to score goals puts even more pressure on a young defense that still has a lot of work to do to be considered one of the best units in the league.
Ahead of their home matchup with expansion side Charlotte FC, head coach Bob Bradley announced that Italian international forwards Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi would make their TFC debut. It turns out that the debut of the two designated players, Insigne and Bernardeschi was exactly the spark this young TFC offense needed to get going.
Bernardeschi scored a goal and assisted on another, Lorenzo Insigne recorded an assist, and captain Michael Bradley scored two goals to help TFC cruise to a 4-0 victory over Charlotte FC for their first clean sheet in league play this season and their first clean sheet since a goalless draw against Colorado on September 25, 2021, which means they conceded a goal in 29 straight league matches.
TFC scored four goals in the first half for the first time in franchise history and they wasted no time before getting on the board.
In the fourth minute, TFC made their way into Charlotte’s box after an attack from Mark Anthony Kaye up the left. He passed it to Jesus Jimenez, who crossed it into the box. It deflected off Jonathan Osorio before a Charlotte defender attempted to clear the ball out of harm’s way, however, it took a fortuitous bounce off Osorio - who was chasing the ball toward the box - before finding its way into the bottom corner of the net.
Osorio’s goal was his sixth of the campaign and his 55th for TFC in all competitions. It also ended a 199-minute scoring drought for TFC, who had failed to score in seven of its previous 12 matches.
Less than six minutes later, TFC would add to their lead. After an extended attack that led to a corner kick, Bernardeschi crossed the ball beautifully to the top right corner of the six-yard box, right onto the head of Bradley who bravely challenged the ball before potting home the goal in
the top-left corner of the net to put TFC up 2-0 less than 10 minutes into the game.
TFC continued their dominance against a Charlotte side, who beat English Premier League
side, Chelsea, in a penalty shootout in their last game. That says a lot about the talent of TFC
and how much the two designated players helped TFC improve their offense.
TFC dominated the possession battle, out-chanced and outshot Charlotte, and consistently found themselves in the attacking zone. They were solid on defense, preventing Charlotte from getting many high-quality scoring chances and shots on target and they created turnovers which led to several counterattacks of their own. Goalkeeper Alex Bono made key saves when he had to, in order to keep the clean sheet.
In the 31st minute, Bernardeschi found the net in his debut and made it 3-0 for TFC with a phenomenal strike from outside the box. Great ball movement from TFC and a beautiful touch pass from Kaye created the scoring chance and the goal. Bernardeschi’s first goal was a very nice one, an elegant and powerful left-footed strike from 25 yards out that slid into the bottom corner of the net.
According to Opta, the 28-year-old Bernardeschi is the first player to record a goal and an assist before halftime of his first MLS appearance since Fredy Montero for Seattle in 2009.
TFC was not done there. Osorio forced a turnover on Charlotte’s side of the field and passed it to Insigne, who set up Bradley with a beautiful, behind-the-back, no-look flick pass. After receiving the pass, Bradley used his ball-control skills to split past two Charlotte defenders before tapping it over Charlotte’s goalkeeper to make it 4-0 for TFC two minutes into first-half stoppage time. It was the first time Charlotte conceded four goals in a league match.
TFC dominated every stat category, on the scoreboard, and on both sides of the ball with Insigne and Bernardeschi on the pitch in the first half. However, Charlotte FC began to string some passes and scoring chances together when the two Italians were subbed off at the start of the second half.
However, all momentum Charlotte created at the start of the second half was evaporated in the 65th minute after captain Christian Fuchs was shown a straight red card for cynically dragging down Jayden Nelson, who had outpaced Fuchs and only had the goalkeeper to beat.
Charlotte was irate that TFC defender Doneil Henry had not been disciplined after he tackled Kamil Jozwiak in the TFC penalty area. In the ensuing chaos, Charlotte’s bench was shown two separate yellow cards. TFC also finished the game with 10 men after Nelson was taken off but was unable to be replaced with Bradley out of substitutions.
Even though Insigne and Bernardeschi are still finding their fitness after being transferred from Serie A, they were both fantastic tonight and showed a touch of brilliance with each possession. It was a smart move by Bradley to sub the two Italians off at halftime, especially with the win already secured for TFC and to preserve their fitness for a huge game on July 26 against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Canadian Championship Final.
The game finished with Charlotte narrowly winning the possession battle 51-49 percent. TFC dominated possession in the first half, but as a result of playing back and defending their clean sheet in the second half, Charlotte was able to make the possession battle look more respectable. TFC outshot Charlotte 15-11, but Charlotte recorded five shots on target to TFC’s four. TFC scored on each of their four shots on goal and recorded an assist on three of their four goals. It was utter dominance from TFC tonight for 90 minutes.
TFC entered the evening seven points behind Charlotte and nine points out of a playoff berth. With a huge win and three points tonight, their biggest win in a few seasons, they are now only four points behind eighth-place Charlotte and six points behind Cincinnati FC who hold the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Before Insigne and Bernardeschi arrived, the playoffs looked like a lost cause. However, if TFC is able to maintain this excellent form, with their two Italian superstars playing at an elite level, they would be considered a heavy favourite to make the postseason for the first time since 2020. A new, exciting beginning has started in Toronto.
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