REFEREE: Terry Vaughn. SAR (bench): Chris Strickland; JAR (opposite): David Bragg; 4th: Ben Chouaf MLS Career: 116 games; FC/gm: 28.9; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 38; pens: 37
INJURY REPORT: COLORADO RAPIDS - OUT: MF Colin Clark (L ACL tear); MF Jamie Smith (L knee strain); DF Cory Gibbs (R thigh strain); PROBABLE: DF Scott Palguta (R calf strain) ... TORONTO FC - QUESTIONABLE: MF Carl Robinson (ankle)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: COL: Conor Casey (USA; 9/5 v El Salvador) ... TOR: Amado Guevara (HON; 9/5 v Trinidad & Tobago)
SUSPENDED: COL: Pablo Mastroeni (through Sept. 18)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: COL: Conor Casey ... TOR: Chad Barrett, Dwayne De Rosario, Nick Garcia
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: COL: Mehdi Ballouchy, Omar Cummings, Cory Gibbs, Scott Palguta ... TOR: Pablo Vitti
LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (4 meetings): Rapids 1 win, 3 goals ... Toronto FC 3 wins, 6 goals ... Ties 0 AT COLORADO (2 meetings): Rapids 1 win, 1 goal ... Toronto FC 1 win, 1 goal... Ties 0
LAST SEASON (MLS):
6/14: TOR 3, COL 1 (Dichio 37; Ricketts 58, 67 - C. Gomez 80)
8/9: COL 0, TOR 1 (Barrett 44)
• The teams are meeting for the first of back-to-back matches this season, their only encounters on the campaign.
• Toronto FC won the season series a year ago, winning 3-1 at BMO Field then claiming a 1-0 win at Dick's Sporting Goods Park
• The teams split their season series in TFC's inaugural campaign, each winning on their home ground.
• Coaches record: Gary Smith vs. TOR: first game ...Chris Cummins v COL: first game
COLORADO RAPIDS
The Colorado Rapids have now alternated wins and losses for eight consecutive matches, defeating the Houston Dynamo 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids have 33 points from 23 matches, sitting in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Western Conference, seven points in arrears of the Dynamo.
TEAM NEWS
• Baudet was not expected to play in the game at all. But Smith had called him on matchday and asked him if he could play a part - a decision that was remarkably prescient when Cory Gibbs was forced after suffering a thigh strain just 10 minutes into the game.
• "It's a speedier return than usual," Smith said. "He's joined the club for a particular reason, and that is because he's a leader. He's a very strong personality, and he showed that to a huge degree today."
• The goal was the first all season scored by the Rapids from a corner kick. Four teams - Chivas USA, New England, New York and San Jose - still have yet to score from a corner this season. Columbus, FC Dallas and Seattle lead with five goals coming from corners this season.
• "We've been working on set pieces the whole season," Mehdi Ballouchy said. "For it to finally come in a game against Houston - they're the masters at set pieces. That was their own weapon, and we got a goal out of it. That was huge for us."
• Smith said injuries to Gibbs and winger Jamie Smith, who was forced off after just a half-hour with a knee injury, means "we can safely say that the pair of them will be unavailable for the weekend."
• The Rapids made a move to address some of the immediate personnel issues when they obtained defender Drew Moor from FC Dallas for Ugo Ihemelu on Monday.
• "In Drew Moor we're getting an experienced defender in a slightly different mold to Ugo," Smith said. "In Ugo you've got a pristine athlete with lots of pace, and a terrific kid at that as well. But I think with Drew you've got maybe a little bit more of a cultured defender. A little bit more capable on the ball. And hopefully as versatile at right back and at center back. Throw into the equation the fact that we're getting a considerable amount of allocation money and a [draft] pick, and what it gives us are some other assets as well that we can use within the market before the window closes on [Sept.] 15th to possibly strengthen a group that has suffered quite badly during the game on the weekend."
• Smith said the club's maneuvering might not yet be over: "You can also throw into that that we're going to lose [midfielder] Pablo [Mastroeni] for a period of time for suspension," he said. "So from a period of time where we were looking at a group that had done extremely well and we didn't have too many problems on the injury front, we're now looking at a group that are really digging deep and we may well need to add somebody else."
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC have won just once in their last six matches, though they came away with a solid point in a scoreless draw against Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday afternoon at Qwest Field. TFC has 31 points from 23 matches, now in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind D.C. United and still eight points behind pace-setting Columbus.
TEAM NEWS
• Toronto FC have now been held goalless in the opening two games of their three-game road swing, though the draw in Seattle did allow them to come away with a point after the 2-0 loss at Chivas USA.
• "I was a little frustrated that we didn't come out of the first half without coming up with a goal possibly two. The intensity that we started the game off is something we need to see from the rest of the club all season," said Dwayne De Rosario. "A draw at the end of the day is a fair result but we left some opportunities out on the field."
• After the Colorado game, TFC will have six games remaining - three at BMO Field and three away from home. TFC has the ninth-best home record in MLS, but after taking away the point from Seattle, has the eighth-best road mark.
• "I'm a little disappointed because we could have come away with a loss in the 93rd minute, but you seen the lads hold on. We showed a lot of good qualities today, if we play a little bit better upfront then we come away with a win. Seattle is a decent team and this is a good point for us. We will take the point and then move on," Cummins said.
• Cummins remained with a back four but pushed Marvell Wynne into an unusual right-sided midfield role. Chad Barrett also returned to the team after missing one game through suspension then coming off the bench at Chivas.
• "My talk to the team was using our experience and knowledge to stop come up with stops. We have some young players on our team so it was key for the veterans to play well today. They don't get fazed by playing in front of 30,000 people; they kept their focus and played well," Smith said. "We worked all week on our defensive moment. Seattle has great offense players with Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua, and of course Freddie [Ljungberg]. The first 45 minutes we caused them so many problems, we just have to tighten there at the end."
• Another change was starting Amadou Sanyang in the holding midfield role with Carl Robinson suspended. It was his second start in three games; both of those outings have been shutouts.
• "I thought the kid was outstanding. He's a good player and he showed today he's got a little bit quality on the ball when he needs it," said Cummins. "He's a little bit hit or miss but he's got legs and he gets around people. I thought that role suited him today."
Game Thread: TFC vs. Colorado CRapids
Originally Posted by twistedchinaman
