TORONTO – The Philadelphia Union were looking for a road win. Toronto FC were looking for a win wherever they could get it.
In the end, the Union showed TFC how to do it with two goals within the first 11 minutes on the way to a 6-2 win at foggy BMO Field on Saturday afternoon.
Gabriel Farfan, Justin Mapp and Kyle Nakazawa scored in the first half as the East-leading Union dominated Toronto. Mapp also scored after the break and Danny Mwanga added two of his own in the second half for the Union.
Maicon Santos scored twice in the second half for Toronto. His second goal pulled the home side to within 3-2 after 60 minutes, but the Union then capitalized on several defensive errors and iced the game.
The win was Philadelphia’s second away from home this season, and nearly doubled their goal total. They entered the game having scored only 8 goals in their previous 10 games.
On the other side, the six goals conceded were the most ever by Toronto.
Philadelphia struck early and frequently. The first goal came in the second minute. Farfan was at the right side of the box when he gathered a cross from the left sideline by Jordan Harvey. After some inept marking gave Farfan plenty of time, he put his right-footed shot into the bottom left corner for his first career goal.
The Union didn’t sit back after the goal and Toronto continued to err in the defense. Mapp slipped through the midfield and made it 2-0 in the 11th minute on a left-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom right corner.
Toronto showed some life at the end of a counter in the 35th minute when the industrious and elusive Joao Plata set up Richard Eckersley, but the latter blasted his shot high of the goal.
Hopes of a Toronto revival received a severe blow just before the end of the first half on a lovely goal by Nakazawa. The second-year midfielder struck a right-footed shot from the centre of the box into the bottom left corner.
Toronto made two changes at the start of the second half with Julian De Guzman and Dan Gargan replaced by Javier Martina and Danleigh Borman, respectively. The changes made a difference, as five minutes after the break, TFC pulled one back through Maicon Santos. The Brazilian broke in alone after taking a long pass from Eckersley. He worked around Philly ’keeper Faryd Mondragon and tucked the ball into the middle of the goal.
Maicon Santos scored again in the 60th minute after the ball fell to him inside the area to pull Toronto to within a goal.
But two minutes later, Mapp’s second goal snuffed out the comeback. After collecting a poor clearance from TFC ‘keeper Stefan Frei, Mapp spun the defender and stroked a left-footed shot from outside the box into the upper left corner.
Mwanga then put the game out of reach in the 72nd minute when he redirected Sebastien Le Toux’s cross, and the second-year striker added to Toronto’s embarrassment with the final goal of the afternoon in the 89th minute.
Scoring Summary:
PHI -- Gabriel Farfan 1 (Jordan Harvey 1) 2
PHI -- Justin Mapp 1 (Kyle Nakazawa 2) 11
PHI -- Kyle Nakazawa 1 (Danny Mwanga 2, Sebastien Le Toux 2) 44
TOR -- Maicon Santos 4 (Danleigh Borman 1) 50
TOR -- Maicon Santos 5 (Danleigh Borman 2) 59
PHI -- Justin Mapp 2 (unassisted) 62
PHI -- Danny Mwanga 2 (Sebastien Le Toux 3) 72
PHI -- Danny Mwanga 3 (unassisted) 89
Philadelphia Union -- Faryd Mondragon, Sheanon Williams, Danny Califf, Carlos Valdes, Jordan Harvey, Gabriel Farfan, Kyle Nakazawa (Keon Daniel 63), Brian Carroll, Justin Mapp, Sebastien Le Toux, Danny Mwanga.
Substitutes Not Used: Chris Agorsor, Juan Diego Gonzalez, Jack McInerney, Carlos Ruiz, Roger Torres, Zac MacMath.
Toronto FC -- Stefan Frei, Richard Eckersley, Dicoy Williams, Ty Harden (Alen Stevanovic 74), Dan Gargan (Danleigh Borman 46), Tony Tchani, Julian de Guzman (Javier Martina 46), Mikael Yourassowsky, Nick Soolsma, Maicon Santos, Joao Plata.
Substitutes Not Used: Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann, Nathan Sturgis, Milos Kocic.
Misconduct Summary:
PHI -- Jordan Harvey (caution; Reckless Tackle) 39
Referee: Niko Bratsis
Referee's Assistants: -Claudio Badea; Jason Cullum
4th Official: Ricardo Salazar
Time of Game: 1:48
Attendance: 20,122
Weather: Flurries-and-54-degrees
