COLUMBUS CREW SC vs. TORONTO FC
MAPFRE STADIUM • Columbus, Ohio
July 13, 2016 • Week 19 • MLS Game #183
7 pm ET (TSN2 in Canada, MLS LIVE in the US)
The second Trillium Cup meeting of the season will be a critical affair in the Eastern Conference when Columbus Crew SC play host to Toronto FC on Wednesday evening at Mapfre Stadium. Crew SC come into the game in ninth place in the East, six points below the red line, their winless run extended to five games in a 3-1 loss at the New England Revolution last weekend. TFC are just one point ahead of sixth place in the division, hitting the road after a 1-0 win against the Chicago Fire on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field.
- Both sides will be looking for a win as they jockey for position in the playoff picture. Toronto FC currently sit in fifth place in the East, while Crew SC are in ninth. This meeting could also mark the return of Reds striker Jozy Altidore, who missed the clubs' first encounter of 2016 due to a hamstring injury but resumed training last week.
- The teams met three times a season ago, with Crew SC winning twice (and one draw) – victorious once on each ground. Crew SC won 2-0 on March 14 at Mapfre Stadium, their first home win in the series since 2013. TFC have won just three matches all-time in Columbus – two of those coming in 2014, when they won all three meetings that season.
- Crew SC then won in the season series finale, a 2-0 win Oct. 17 at BMO Field, ending a two-game home winning streak for TFC in the series. Those two victories were TFC’s first ever at BMO Field in the series, after three losses and five draws over the first six-plus seasons.
- The Trillium Cup rivals played to a 0-0 draw in their first meeting of 2016, on May 21.
- Ola Kamara scored for a third consecutive game – with four goals over that span – but Crew SC suffered a second consecutive defeat and saw their winless streak reach five games in a 3-1 loss at the New England Revolution on Saturday evening. Kamara now has eight goals in MLS play, all coming over the last six games, since May 28.
- Toronto FC made it five home games in a row without loss, Justin Morrow netting the game’s only goal for the victory against the Chicago Fire on Saturday evening at BMO Field.
- Crew SC have come away with points now on their last two trips to Toronto. TFC had won back-to-back home games in the series before that – TFC’s first wins ever at BMO Field in the series, after three losses and five draws over the first six-plus seasons.
REFEREE: Robert Sibiga. AR1 (bench): Jeff Muschik; AR2 (opposite): James Conlee; 4th: Fotis Bazakos
MLS Career: 11 games; FC/gm: 23.9; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 4; pens: 2
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: TOR: Justin Morrow
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CLB: Tony Tchani … TOR: Jozy Altidore, Damian Perquis, Steven Beitashour
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (26 meetings): Crew SC 12 wins, 41 goals … Toronto FC 5 wins, 30 goals … Ties 9
AT COLUMBUS (14 meetings): Crew SC 8 wins, 27 goals … Toronto FC 3 wins, 19 goals … Ties 3
FUTURE MATCH: 7/31: Toronto FC vs. Columbus Crew SC, 7:30 p.m. ET
LAST MEETING
5/21: TOR 0, CLB 0
