CONCACAF Champions League road matches have not always been kind to MLS teams. Coming into this week's first round of Group Stage matches, MLS teams had won just five times in Central America and Mexico during the tournament's first three years. After Toronto FC's 2-1 win over Panama's Tauro to complete a perfect 5-0 round, MLS teams now have nine wins south of the U.S. border.
CONCACAF Champions League, Toronto FC Vs. Tauro: Reds Keep MLS Perfect
The Reds' win was hardly the most impressive of the four MLS road victories, but for a team that has struggled all season during regular-season play, no win can be overlooked. Ryan Johnson opened the scoring for TFC when he was able to collect an errant Tauro clearance and slot it past the goalkeeper. Just three minutes later, Julian De Guzman gave the Reds a 2-0 lead, again collected a poor Tauro pass and blasting in a shot from about 25 yards out.
From there, TFC basically held on. Tauro eventually outshot the visitors 12-7 and had 59 percent of the possession. They eventually cut their deficit to 2-1 when De Guzman dragged down a Tauro player in the box and Luis Moreno converted the penalty in the 76th minute. Tauro was unable to find the equalizer, though.
The 5-0-0 performance was easily the best collective performance from MLS in any week of the tournament's history. Last year, with four teams in the group stage, MLS twice went 3-1-0 with the Seattle Sounders being the lone team to lose in each of the two weeks.
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