Toni Tchani came to Toronto in a big trade earlier in the season that involved Dwayne De Rosario and may believe it would be a big turning point for his young career. Well today certainly was just that. Late in the first half Tchani took a nice ball into the box and hit a nice shot past Columbus Crew keeper William Hesmer for the game's first goal.
Toronto FC Vs. Columbus Crew: Toni Tchani Puts Reds Up 1-0
The goal ended the Crew’s shutout streak at 413 minutes, a new club record.
But the goal didn't come without a little bit of fun afterwards. Earlier in the game Tchani had gotten into an altercation with Crew midfielder Kevin Burns and received a yellow card at the time. After Tchani scored, he leaped over the ad boards to celebrate with the Toronto fans. It turns out that doing so is a cautionable offense in the FIFA rule book. Tchani immediately saw his second yellow card, which resulted in a red card.
Toronto had been knocking on the Crew's door for the most part of the first half. Alan Gordon had helped create a couple decent chances while Julian de Guzman also was involved in the attack at some points.
Columbus did have a couple chances of their own that went to waste, the best being a Robbie Rogers shot that just missed the far post. Rogers was open in the box after Emilio Renteria pressured first time Toronto starter Decoy Williams into a turnover.
With the Crew up a man going into the second half it will be interesting to see what chances Aron Winter and Robert Warzycha make. Winter’s club will have to be more compact in defense and not allow the Crew to have too much free space in their offensive third. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Warzycha bring on some offensive help in the form of Jeff Cunningham. You know he’d love to score another goal against Toronto, especially at BMO Field.
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