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Toronto FC

Toronto FC (3) - Philadelphia Union (1) Post-Match Sum

October 26, 2016 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


TORONTO FC (3) - PHILADELPHIA UNION (1) POST-MATCH SUMMARY

Toronto FC advances to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals to take on New York City FC

Scoring Summary

TFC - Sebastian Giovinco 15' (Jozy Altidore)

TFC - Jonathan Osorio 48' (Nick Hagglund, Sebastian Giovinco)

PHI - Alejandro Bedoya 73' (Richie Marquez, Ilsinho)

TFC - Jozy Altidore 85'

Misconduct Summary

TFC Michael Bradley 14' (caution)

PHI - C.J. Sapong 25' (caution)

PHI - Alejandro Bedoya 43' (caution)

TFC - Jozy Altidore 45' + 1' (caution)

PHI - Ken Tribbett 90'

Lineups

Toronto FC - Clint Irwin; Eriq Zavaleta, Drew Moor, Nick Hagglund; Steven Beitashour, Armando Cooper (Benoit Cheyrou 70'), Michael Bradley ©, Jonathan Osorio (Will Johnson 66'), Justin Morrow; Jozy Altidore (Tosaint Ricketts 88'), Sebastian Giovinco

Substitutes Not Used: Alex Bono, Josh Williams, Mark Bloom, Marco Delgado,

Philadelphia Union - Andre Blake; Keegan Rosenberry (Charlie Davies 84'), Ken Tribbett, Richie Marquez, Fabinho; Alejandro Bedoya, Warren Creavalle, Fabian Herbers (Ilsinho 59'), Tranquillo Barnetta, Chris Pontius; C.J. Sapong (Roland Alberg70')

Substitutes Not Used: John McCarthy, Raymon Gaddis, Auston Trusty, Brian Carroll

GREG VANNEY - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Couple of Congratulations, More work to be done but this is a 10 year monkey off the organization's back, is it not? Yeah it feels like it but we are very aware that is just the first step for us through this process of this postseason. You could feel it a little bit but the guys came out and we knew it was going to be a change of intensity. I think the fans and those of you watching could feel it, I was right next to the field, the speed and tension of the game was different level from any of the regular season games that we participated in. It was great that the guys were ready for it, and that is what caught us last year, we weren't quite ready for it but this year we were and we set the tone with it.

Can you talk about the three DPs, they all had incredible ways in their own way... Starting at the top, Jozy was just huge, he played big, he played physical, at times he just looked possessed to track down the ball and take it away from people. He used his size and that was big for us, in a game where there wasn't a whole lot of passing the ball around, it was a game where both teams were pressing each other pretty quickly for large stretches of it. We had to play forward quick and use him as a release a lot of times, and he was fantastic at bringing guys in the play, holding up the play, fighting and competing for first balls so that we could win second balls. Obviously the goa at the end was massive as it took a lot of tension out of the game when those final minutes were getting stressful at 2-1. He stepped up big, the play he made at the beginning to set Seba up, was just working his tail off to get into the box, kind of man handling, winning space and popping it over to Seba. His performance was outstanding.

Seba who was just coming back from a long injury, he was digging in the whole game, and you just see the flashes of brilliance that he has is off the charts and the things that he is capable of doing. I thought all through the game he was active, he was part of trying to get us out of tight situations, keep the team moving forward, finishing attacks, he was incredibly busy and active. As we started defending a bit more, he was getting a little bit separated from the group, because the amount of time we spent defending in sections but whenever we were able to release out to him he was able to get on the ball and drive in the oppositions half which gives us a chance to get a breather. He is always outstanding.

Michael I thought was fantastic in patrolling that space in front of the back three, doubling balls when guys were receiving it, he was quick to get over there and work with other players to pick off balls, jump on the second ball and I thought it was one of his best games of the year in terms of breaking up plays. I think it was one of those games because there wasn't a ton of possession, you didn't see Michael orchestrating a lot of plays but he did the other side of it, doing the dogged work of cleaning up things in midfield and keeping the ball moving to the next guy.

Jozy said that the team didn't show up in the playoff game in Montreal last year, clearly they did, did you get a sense of that last year, and did you deliver a Rocky speech? I may have but I am pretty sure he didn't take credit for him after he said it. I think the guys stood up from themselves right from the warm up . The coaches said there was a lot of communication amongst the group, some very positive stuff that group was saying, they looked ready. A lot of guys were saying the right things in the locker room, there was just a different intensity. When I gave my final words to them, that is what it was about, it is playoff time, it is going to be a street fight more than it is going to be a soccer game, especially from the start. A soccer game may or may not break out at some point, but we have to be ready to compete, scrap it out, fight, challenge first balls and win second balls. That is kind of what the game was, it wasn't such an artful game of possession soccer it was two teams that were really competing hard to get a result.

SEBASTIAN GIOVINCO - FORWARD, TORONTO FC

Earlier this week you said you wanted to make this city notice, this has to be a good start? Yes it was a great start, we played a fantastic game. It wasn't easy by any means as the teams not used to playing in this situation but it was a great way to start.

You've scored many goals but I wonder if scoring the first ever goal for Toronto FC in the post-season in 10 years with the nice assist from Altidore, that was a special goal? When you play games like this, ones that are decisive it's always amazing. We need to continue like this and we just can't stop.

Does the quick turnaround help with the momentum for you guys? Might have been a little bit better to wait a week and give us a little more rest.

JIM CURTIN - HEAD COACH, PHILADELPHIA UNION

First off congratulations to Toronto. Congrats for moving on. I thought that our team pushed the game second half to be particular, I'm very proud of our group. It's a tough place to come into, very talented roster. Listen only one teams season ends the right way good and with a smile. So our season ends now, it's difficult. I won't reflect on all the positives that came from it. Somewhere deep down in there I do feel like Philadelphia Union fans, the players, can walk a little taller with their chest out because we are a franchise that's moving in the right direction I believe that. It's tough after a loss to say that, but I think the foundation that (Ernie Stewart) has laid sets us up for the future. The detail that he puts in will make us be able to address what we need in moving on to next year and we will attack that now, it begins today. I am incredibly proud of the players and the season they've put in, I'd like to in particular thank Tranquillo Barnetta a true professional, a guy that left everything out there tonight, incredible performance from him. The best compliment I could give him is that he leaves this club establishing himself and moving on to a bigger spot. It's much improved from the time he got there to now so that's the biggest compliment I could give him, he's a real winner and had an incredible career with Philadelphia Union. Tough in a loss to find positives but I did want to address that and I am still incredibly proud of the effort that the players put in this year.

It was said that Warren Creavalle was pretty battered going into this game, can you tell us what the status is on the injury report? Yeah, he had three broken ribs a month ago. We just found out they were broken because the first x-ray didn't show anything, he took another knock against Red Bull and he's as tough of a kid as I've seen. He wanted to be out there, I thought he put in a great game tonight, covered a ton of ground, and broke up a ton of plays. To play with three broken ribs speaks a lot to what Warren is all about.

Going into the Red Bull game you were talking about the content of how you guys had to work so hard to get a goal and you were giving up cheap mistakes from it, did that seem to be the case here again? Yeah, I think that's fair. Three kind of broken plays I think we really pushed the tempo of the game and I was excited for that. Literally at the fifteen we have a mis-clear where it goes up in the air, there's a scramble a Giovinco gets on the end of one. The corner kick goal to start the second half, two guys collide fall down and Keegan loses Osorio. Difficult, moments you learn from but those are key critical moments. The third one again the opportunity to clear, kind of a mis-touch and when Jozy looks at something he's going to kill it. You learn from it but you're right in the big spots, those broken plays you would call I agree they were broken plays, they weren't 15 pass sequences where you tip your cap and say wow they really deserved that goal. We have things we need to work, things we can improve on and we'll attack that starting when this press conference is over.

CHRIS PONTIUS - MIDFIELDER, PHILADELPHIA UNION

On the first 20 minutes... I was happy with how we came out, we put some pressure on them. Obviously the goal, off a little bit of a crazy play and just breaks down at the point and they get a goal. Going into halftime, we're down one-zero, it's not the end of the world. We came out in the second half, once again a bit of an unfortunate bounce off a corner kick and that kind of really puts us behind the ball at that point but still we kept battling, we get the goal and we're really pushing it at that point. We're throwing a lot of numbers forward. They got on the counter and another bounce that kind of went their way.

Anything that you guys could have done differently to get a second goal? No I wouldn't say that there was anything that we could have done differently in the second half because I like the mentality of the team in the second half, I like how we came out and pushed the game. In the first half, I think some of the nerves got the best of us, and instead of moving the ball around we resorted to playing a little bit of the long balls. I would have liked to see us move the ball a little bit better.

Can you point to a reason why the team struggled down the stretch? As a team, giving up goals, and that's everyone, I'm not talking about defence, from forwards on. We just gave up too many goals. I feel like at the beginning of the year we were pretty solid and once again, that is not anyone on defence that is us as a time, that is us as a group. We were a bit more fearless, a bit more reckless, we took some chances in pressuring teams and forced them into some very, very bad turnovers and I think we kind of got away from that a little bit. I think when you give up goals you're going to put yourself behind in games and it's tough to come back.

ALEJANDRO BEDOYA - MIDFIELDER, PHILADELPHIA UNION

On the goal tonight... It was off a corner kick, it was opportunistic. I was getting knocks, we knew that Toronto was pretty bad at defending set pieces and they have given up a lot of goals. We talked all week about keeping the ball alive and then being in the right spots and for me I'm always trying to get in the box and find those little gaps to make some room. It just fell to me and I was able to put it around.

What do you think about your time in MLS? It's interesting. I mean, I think I stayed out after the game just to soak it all in. The atmosphere that they have here in Toronto is just a sign of how far this league has come and I just wanted to be a part of this. This Philly organization has a lot of big ambitions and that is the reason I wanted to come here... I think it's been overall, I'm happy to be here in MLS.

On the first 20 minutes... I couldn't have asked for a better start from the team. We talked about getting it to the front foot, playing in their end and just being aggressive and getting that playoff intensity. Obviously it was a bit too frantic in the first half but that is going to happen with the emotions. We gave up the cheap goal, and I talked about it last week, we just can't seem to get away from giving cheap, easy goals. Obviously I was opportunistic with my chance but I think for the most part, since I've been here, the goals we've scored have been tough, they've been good team goals and the other team we just give them easy goals and it's an uphill battle for us. It's already hard enough playing away in the MLS and when you give up a goal like that like we did today, it's always going to be tough.

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