McCarthy's Musings: New York Emerges From Toronto Battle With Playoff Advantage

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Toronto FC's approach to the opening stages of Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat at New York revealed the importance of this clash between two sides jockeying for position in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

The normally cagey visitors started the match with a uncharacteristic hint of ambition and a modicum of control over the proceedings. Dwayne De Rosario fluttered about and propelled the Reds forward as they attempted to secure a more tangible advantage. TFC almost carved the opener when Jacob Peterson ran in behind the New York back four after just eight minutes, but he saw his attempt on goal blocked by Danleigh Borman's recovery tackle.

“They surprised us in a way,” New York coach Hans Backe said after the match. “I said before the game that we can expect them to probably drop and look for breaks. They were after us all of the time in the first half.”

New York controversially stunted the momentum of TFC's bright start by grabbing the only goal of the match after 23 minutes.

The visitors exploded when referee Ricardo Salazar kept the whistle in his pocket and rather inexplicably permitted Juan Pablo Angel to shove Adrian Cann as the duo jostled for aerial position in the attacking third moments before the opener. The non-call sparked a furious protest from TFC coach Preki and started a night-long dialogue between the recent Hall of Fame inductee and the man in the middle as the visitors fumed over Salazar's reluctance to regulate the proceedings.

“I thought it was a clear foul on Adrian Cann, and the referee doesn't blow the whistle,” Preki said. “We can talk all we want about these this, but these things keep happening and happening. I just wondering when this is going to stop. I always say if we get beat by the better team on the night, I congratulate them. I just don't like when the game gets decided on a bad call.”

The goal itself, however, deserved no such rebuke with Thierry Henry prominently involved in one of the few inventive moves on a humdrum night. Henry weaved through several tackles as he cut inside from the left wing and fed the ball to Seth Stammler at the top of the box. Stammler then conjured up a cheeky scoop Henry would have adopted as his own to send Joel Lindpere through to slot home his second goal of the campaign.

From that point forward, Toronto faced a deficit it never looked like it would overcome. Chad Barrett picked up a right hamstring tweak shortly after the goal and soon limped off, limiting the Reds' attacking options to De Rosario and Mista up front until Preki sent on any forward thinking towards the end of the contest.

New York soon found the measure of a TFC attack that missed Barrett's movement and stunted any hopes of an equalizer rather easily as the match progressed. TFC often resorted to long balls out of the back due to its lack of creativity and width and the Red Bulls usually lapped them up and pushed out of their own half when possible.

“The first half, they kind of caught us off guard a little bit,” New York defender Tim Ream said. “The second half, largely every ball they tried to play in, we cut out defensively just by picking and choosing the right times to step in and win the ball and when to drop off and stay compact. It's a tale of two halves, but we've got the clean sheet and that's all that matters.”

A touch of class from Mista probably should have handed TFC the equalizer it deserved with six minutes to play. De Rosario supplied Mista with the ball on the edge of the penalty area and the Spanish forward shimmied into enough space to slide a clever pass to the unmarked O'Brian White at the far post. White's ensuing effort fell well short of the required standard and left TFC to rue a missed opportunity to add to its unsatisfactory haul of four road points on the campaign.

“Even when we took Chad out, I thought we still had good play, good chances and good moments,” Preki said. “We should have done better. Given all I said about how we conceded the goal, I still feel there were moments in the final third of the field where we can do better.”

The sentiment applied to both teams on a night where neither side generated much rhythm in possession. Backe can reflect upon Tony Tchani's assured performance in central midfield and ponder how his side will look with Lindpere on the left and a suitable – or not-so-suitable, depending on whether the Red Bulls can sign a player to fill that role before the transfer window slams shut on Sunday – bookend on the right flank. New York can also ask an increasingly influential Henry and the returning Rafa Marquez to improve the Red Bulls' indifferent work on the ball to help fuel the playoff push and refine the side's tendency for direct play.

Toronto's continued lack of quality at the sharp end cost the Reds a chance to pull ahead of the Red Bulls in the table. New York is now five points clear of third-placed TFC for the second and final automatic berth out of the East. Given the Reds' CONCACAF Champions League commitments and the suspension-triggering yellow card doled out to Julian de Guzman to rule him out of the critical rematch next Saturday, the Red Bulls could create a formidable gap by escaping BMO Field with a draw in the return fixture. It is a deficit TFC can ill afford to increase as it embarks on a hectic schedule over the next two months with a wary eye on the fellow playoff contenders out West and the looming presence of Chicago with its three matches in hand.

No wonder then why TFC pushed so earnestly in the early stages in search of a positive result. With a bit more luck and a bit more quality, the Reds may just have secured it and temporarily allayed fears about a protracted battle for an at-large berth. Instead, New York holds the advantage as these two sides continue their tussle for postseason positioning.