MLS Toronto FC

Cruz Azul (1) - Toronto FC (0) Post Game Summary

Published on May 5, 2021 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Quarter-Finals - Second Leg

SCORING SUMMARY

CRZ - Bryan Angulo 28'

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TFC - Richie Laryea 22' (caution)

CRZ - Roberto Alvarado 41' (caution)

AGGREGATE

CLUB FIRST LEG SECOND LEG TOTAL

CRUZ AZUL 3 1 4

TORONTO FC 1 0 1

LINEUPS

TORONTO FC - Alex Bono; Richie Laryea, Omar González, Chris Mavinga (Auro Jr. HT), Justin Morrow; Michael Bradley (C), Marky Delgado, Nick DeLeon (Noble Okello 68'), Jonathan Osorio (Tsubasa Endoh HT), Jacob Shaffelburg (Patrick Mullins 68'); Ayo Akinola (Ralph Priso 82')

Substitutes Not Used: Quentin Westberg, Luke Singh

CRUZ AZUL - Jesús Corona (C); Ignacio Rivero, Juan Escobar, Pablo Aguilar, Adrián Aldrete (Julio Domínguez 73'); Rafael Baca, Luis Romo, Walter Montoya (Elías Hernández 66'), Yoshimar Yotún (José Martínez 55'), Roberto Alvarado (Guillermo Fernández 55'); Bryan Angulo (Jonathan Rodríguez 66;')

Substitutes Not Used: Sebastián Jurado, Santiago Giménez

MEDIA NOTES:

Cruz Azul is the first Mexican team to keep a clean sheet vs Toronto FC in the Reds' last 10 Concacaf Champions League matches against Liga MX opposition.

Toronto FC's all-time Concacaf Champions League finishes:

2011 - Eliminated in First round

2011 - Eliminated in Group stages

2012 - Eliminated in Semi-finals (Santos Laguna)

2013 - Eliminated in Group stages

2018 - Finalist, Runners Up (C.D. Guadalajara)

2019 - Eliminated in Round of 16 (Independiente)

2021 - Eliminated in Quarter-finals (Cruz Azul)

CHRIS ARMAS - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q. Your team seemed to start brightly tonight, but another wonder goal seemed to take the steam out of the team, the air out of the team a little bit. How did you see the game?

Look, the first thing I'm going to say before I talk about the game is, you know, this team, this Toronto FC team, who I've now met now, I don't know, four months ago, this is an impressive group, and we have talked about the no excuses, and there's a lot of factors that have affected this group which would have made it easy to quit in some of these games, to just start blaming and start, you know, again, making excuses.

And you know, I'm going to say a few things that these guys have been dealt a difficult hand: You know, no home field, away from their families, a tough stretch back in Canada, our dps are not healthy at the moment. So many little things; a really difficult draw in the Champion's League. Hot days for games mid-day, short rest. And these guys, not once did they make one excuse.

But it's important to be said that this team stands together. They came here tonight with full belief. They put Cruz Azul, who is a good team and difficult game in the first half, and yeah, that's what I'll say about the game; that we showed up tonight with a belief and a plan and for folks at home, I mean, 115 long balls they play, very effective in what they do. It's really challenging. The last thing I would say is that I'm proud of the team, they don't quit, they stick together and that they went for it tonight.

Q. Chris Mavinga, first appearance today in the six games. How did you think he looked and was that the plan just to let him go the 45 minutes and then take him off?

Listen, two things. Chris Mavinga, he's a presence back there. You can see it, what he means to this team when he's in, when he's not in. I thought he had he had may really good first half, made big plays, covers lots of ground. Gives us something really -- obviously just a comfort back there to deal with transition and the whole bit.

The plan coming in, I laughed -- play 90, that's what he says. We thought that he'd play into the second half. That was the plan. But you know, it's a big demand at the altitude and it's his first minutes, right. So we got I think a lot out of him and it's a good first step for him getting back into the team, and there's a good chance we can have him ready for Saturday.

Q. It's not the best performance tonight, the result is not what you expected, but you had a great performance through the competition. So what do you get from this, learning for the next season for the MLS tournament, and congratulations for the tournament, that you get to the next stage?

Yeah, thank you. Look, Cruz Azul is a good team. I don't have to tell the Mexican community that it's -- I think 18 games, they have not lost. You know, we knew it was a difficult match up, and we thought that tonight in the first half; that we created some good chances, some really good chances that maybe if we score the first goal, we can make it a really interesting game.

So listen, we are proud of our team; that we went to Leon and we tied 1-1 and we came home and beat Leon and we really threw everything we had at Cruz Azul. But this is a good team. Congratulations to Cruz Azul, Juan Reynoso, a very good coach, and we wish them well.

But we are proud of our team for showing up here in Mexico City. This is not an easy place to play. From the beginning of the game, we attacked and we left everything, we left everything on the field.

Q. Excellent game, good effort. Big picture-wise in terms of the tournament itself, do you think it's a big disadvantage for MLS teams, not just your team, but entering a tournament like this after only playing a few games compared to the Mexican team playing for several weeks?

Yeah, I think there's an advantage to those teams at the end of their season, and some like us, we're in the beginning of our season. But this is what it is. You know, certainly, in this really interesting time of the pandemic and COVID, it makes an extra challenge, but Cruz Azul is a good team and I think even if all things are equal, even if we can play a home match, this is a difficult series. It's a difficult match-up.

But we would love to play these games. MLS teams, we would all love to play these games middle of our season, end of our season because we think it could be even a better match-up, better game, better for the supporters and for the competition, just for the competition. I'm sure they would love to see our best like they want to see our best.

But then listen, it's a good team, and they move on.

Q. Can you pinpoint where this series got a way from you guys, and perhaps with tonight's goal from Angulo, is that the kind of goal you tip your cap to or is that a tough one to give up?

Listen, the set pieces, we can look at that. We're home, we know we can play against this team. We can give them some trouble. We can pick up some second balls and play in transition. But I think we let ourselves down with some set pieces in leg one.

Tonight, it's different, it is. We give up a really special goal. Again, they played 115 long balls. We cannot win them all. So the times that you win those, it's moments to maybe score and when you lose those moments, good players can make plays.

This is a very, very good goal for them and yeah, I mean, they had a few other chances, but so did we. Even at the end, we had chances to score. It's a good goal for them, really. We congratulate the scorer, not blame TFC here.

Q. Given the injuries, given you've got players that will be coming into the team very shortly with Jefferson, how incomplete does the group feel at this time? Do you not feel that you have gotten a true reflection of what your team is all about at this point?

Look, when we finally get healthy, when we finally add the pieces, yeah, it will feel different and it will look different. And then we can play both sides of the ball. This team can defend with organization and we can attack with good ideas and quality players.

But I know the team. I'm seeing the team. It's not like Alejandro Pozuelo is not with us back in Orlando. We are together every day and we are coming together. And these types of tournaments and a little bit of adversity, this brings groups together. It can separate groups but it's bringing us together and I can see that, and I can see tonight that they are together.

When I see the faces of the players suffering together, the only thing missing, I want to be with them out there. But yeah, we're coming together. We're close. We're getting closer. We're getting healthier, and when we do, yeah, I think we're going to be a team that can win consistently in the League.

Q. Can you tell us why Jozy was unavailable tonight and when did you find out that he was not going to be able to play?

He just hasn't been feeling good for a few days. It's almost par for the course these days where you just -- Jozy has been in a really good way. You know, working up his fitness, his sharpness, the whole bit. We all know when he's -- what he means to this team moving forward and, in the past,, like this is a big player.

So he just wasn't feeling great. So this is -- it's a shame for Jozy and for us, but yeah, he'll be back and doing his thing. So he's had a really, really good few months before he took a step back with the slight injury, but you know, we'll be relying on him in a big way and get him back to feeling good.

Q. What was your evaluation of Ayo tonight, his first start playing leading the line?

It was inspiring. I thought he was excellent. You know, Ayo, he's a good striker and he's got good tendencies to run behind and run the line and his timing, and he put himself in a few really good spots and I thought he was a handful for their back line tonight.

Really good starting point for him, good action. That's where we can expect to see him on the pitch and I think it was one of the -- you know, we had a bunch of guys that showed up tonight in a big way and I think he did, we pushed his minutes, the fitness is coming and yeah, he's an exciting young player with a really good attitude. Yeah, I thought he did really well tonight.

MICHAEL BRADLEY - MIDFIELDER, TORONTO FC

Q. I know you and your team have taken the no-excuses approach this year, or so far this season, but a lot was going against this team in the last few weeks. What do you take away from this quarterfinal series against a very good Cruz Azul team?

The games in this competition are high level, and you understand that you have to be at your best to give yourself a chance. You have to make plays in key moments and so we'll take away the experience of four really, really good games early in the season. As much as it's still a lot of the same -- a lot of the same players, it's still a new team. Chris has come in and has new ideas and ways that he wants to tweak things and improve things, and so look, I think we're going in a good direction. It's not paid off in as big a way as we would have liked just yet, but everybody's confident that it will.

So we've got to now reset and get ready for a really big MLS portion of the season.

Q. Chris Mavinga was back in the lineup today for the first time this season. I wanted to get your opinion on how he looked and how big of a return is it for the club with Chris back in the lineup knowing he's been such a consistent performer since he's been here?

Yeah, Chris is a really important guy for us. That's no two ways about. It obviously we've missed having him on the field and to get him his first 45 minutes of the season tonight was great. Great for him, great for us. We're really excited that he's fit and healthy and we know that he's a guy that we're going to need to count on in a big way going forward.

Q. Obviously your team has come the closest of any MLS team to winning this tournament back in 2017. Considering you guys were down 3-0, can you tell us overall how much of an appreciation, even though you were down 3-0 in the first game, you see the effort of today's game --

It was 3-1 after the first game. So what was your question?

Q. In terms of the overall performance of the team considering you were in the backseat losing 3-1 in the first game, did you appreciate the effort that you guys gave even though you missed some chances at the beginning?

Yeah, look, like I said at the beginning, you know that to be successful in this competition, you have to be at your best. You have to take care of big moments in games at both ends of the field, and obviously you know, let's be honest, we let ourselves down in the first leg. You know, you give away a goal after two or three minutes, you know, it's a bad way to start the home leg. Get back to 1-1, and yeah, on the night, struggled with dealing with set pieces, and obviously that's the difference in the first leg.

And it means that now we come in for the second leg, your backs are up against the wall and you have to push things a little bit. I felt we pushed things in a good way in the first half. I thought we did a lot of the things that we wanted to, couldn't quite put together the right plan to get the goal, and they scored another great goal. So that's, for me, the story of the two legs.

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