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MLS Toronto FC

Toronto FC (1) - Cruz Azul (3) Post Game Summary

April 28, 2021 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Quarter-Finals - First Leg

SCORING SUMMARY

CRZ - Bryan Angulo 3' (Roberto Alvarado)

TFC - Jonathan Osorio 20'

CRZ - Bryan Angulo 34' (Pablo Aguilar)

CRZ - Pablo Aguilar 58' (Orbelín Pineda)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TFC - Eriq Zavaleta 18' (caution)

CRZ - Juan Escobar 31' (caution)

CRZ - Guillermo Fernández 88' (caution)

AGGREGATE

CLUB FIRST LEG SECOND LEG TOTAL

TORONTO FC 1 MAY 4 TBD

CRUZ AZUL 3

LINEUPS

TORONTO FC - Alex Bono; Auro Jr., Omar González, Eriq Zavaleta, Justin Morrow; Michael Bradley (C), Ralph Priso (Ayo Akinola 77'), Marky Delgado, Jonathan Osorio (Nick DeLeon 59'), Jacob Shaffelburg (Tsubasa Endoh 67'); Jozy Altidore (Patrick Mullins 59')

Substitutes Not Used: Quentin Westberg, Luke Singh, Noble Okello

CRUZ AZUL - Jesús Corona (C); Ignacio Rivero, Juan Escobar, Pablo Aguilar, Adrián Aldrete; Rafael Baca, Luis Romo (Guillermo Fernández 75'), Roberto Alvarado (Yoshimar Yotún 67'), Walter Montoya (Jonathan Rodríguez 60'), Orbelín Pineda (Elías Hernández 60'); Bryan Angulo (Santiago Giménez 67')

Substitutes Not Used: Andrés Gudiño, Julio Domínguez

MEDIA NOTES:

Jonathan Osorio scored his fifth career goal in the Concacaf Champions League, which is third all-time in Toronto FC history. Joao Plata and Ryan Johnson both scored six goals in the competition. Sebastian Giovinco is fourth on that list with four career CCL goals.

CHRIS ARMAS - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q. Clearly you were up against an elite team tonight but do you think that your team contributed to its own demise problems with set pieces again and a goal off a turnover?

Yes, it's frustrating, right, because you know, there's oftentimes it's X's and O's and things that you can prepare for in a strategic way. But within this game, it was -- it was clear, right. We knew they were not going to change what they -- who they are and what they do. You know, we know they play roughly 90 long balls per game. Like it was going to be very, very clear that it was going to be a day about field position, about second balls, about, you know, where -- you go turning over the ball in bad spots and playing the game in certain areas, and yeah, with that, there's set pieces.

And of course it's a good team but we let ourselves down defending our box again. You know, there's not a magic solution for that, man-to-man or to the zone. It's about urgency and alertness and reactions. That's clearly -- you know, we have work to do there. We have work to do there. And it cost us tonight and you can talk about the other games, too, where we left ourselves down and it will be hard to win soccer games when that stuff is not right. So I will figure that out. We're at halftime right now, and we're going against Cruz Azul and make it a game.

Q. Next Tuesday, not to give away any secrets or anything, but looking at it from this vantage point, do you figure you have to make drastic changes or just straighten some things out and maybe hopefully get a couple of healthy players back? What are your thoughts heading into that second game even though the first game just ended?

Look, when you are talking about drastic changes, are you asking about personnel? Is it tactics? We have a core group here. We have our guys and we understood clearly what the game would look like. So the interesting thing is when you can put yourselves in position to win second balls, when you can secure the first pass, you can catch Cruz Azul the other way. And we did that, at times we did that, and that's, you know, strategy and gaping stuff, but it still has to come down to more urgency, more competing, anticipating, reactions. Again, all over the field so that you can create more transition moments by just, you know, sniffing out enough plays, and then again, we'll just have to be much more tight on set pieces.

I've been part of stretches like this when some of that, it's not quite right. We'll put players in position to succeed. We're going to get that right. But I already can tell you what the game is going to look like from Cruz Azul's standpoint. Again there's no secrets tonight. They are a good team and can play and if you some of you don't realize, you can go back and look at how good that team is. They have not lost much this last year. We knew it would be tough. Not a lot of room for error.

We'll make some changes, probably some structural changes to put ourselves in spots and we'll take the next days to think about that.

Q. You know the math, 11 goals in five games conceded and it's not all on the goalkeeper but at what point do you maybe take a look at giving Quentin a look and sitting Alex on the bench?

Been solid. So we ask ourselves tough questions every day about players and are we getting certain things right. That's an every day thing. I think Alex has done a solid job. We have to help him more. We have to help him more and have more urgency and more commitment to defend and take care of our jobs around him. You know, guys got to do their jobs, you know, and he's doing his.

Q. Just wondering what positives you took from tonight? Is there anything that gives you hope, gives you confidence that you can build upon going into the second leg next week?

I still would say that, look, we stick together. Our team doesn't give in. We don't give up. We push. We make our lives difficult. But no one is going to help us with that. We have to help ourselves to have 90 minutes of a performance that's full of concentration and execution. But I like that our team sticks together and we fight to the end. We fought to get the second goal, didn't get it, but we certainly give ourselves a chance going against Cruz Azul.

Listen, I'm not -- I like our team. I love our team. I'm not -- I'm just not -- right now, it's not looking full of positives.

Q. Did you see more goals out there for you guys tonight?

Yeah, there's a few big chances, and there would have been more if we can deal with some transition moments the right way. You know, when you play against teams like this that play very direct and when you can win a lot of the aerial duels with Omar and Eric, and you can win some second balls like we did even on the first goal, right, we pin the ball and give it right back. That's frustrating, it is.

So there were some big moments. Cruz Azul defends their box pretty well, right, with urgency. They didn't give up a lot of spaces but we had a few chances in transition and a couple of set pieces.

But we showed that we can score on them. They have won six or seven out of the last ten, 1-0. But we can score and week create chances and we are going to push to do that at their place.

Q. What is the key tonight to Cruz Azul's victory?

They took their chances. They took their chances. They were go on set pieces, and I would say it's the same key because there was no surprises. There was none. It's exactly what we thought. So I give them credit that they stuck to what they do. They play very direct. They play with a clear playing style and they have good attackers but they overload our end and they anticipate second balls and they create real transition moments. So it's a good team. That's the credit they get. They stuck to who they are. Good team.

Q. You have a new designated player, Soteldo, can you tell us your thoughts about acquiring him and do you have any idea when you might be able to deploy him?

We are excited for Yeferson to join us. He's a dynamic attacker. He's going to really help us on the attacking end and he brings a lot of quality, and for a fairly young guys, he's got some big experiences and he's very dynamic. He plays with a lot of passion and we think he's a winner.

So that's going to be a nice injection into our team. Still working through when he can participate. There's a chance it's Cruz Azul and that can give us a nice lift, but we are not sure with the logistical hurdles that we have to get through before we can have him join us. But we're excited for sure and so is he. We'll welcome him as soon as we can.

JUSTIN MORROW - DEFENDER, TORONTO FC

Q. Given what happened tonight, you've been around the block, what kind of challenge are you facing next week in Azteca?

Yeah, the second leg is going to be a tall task to turn it around. They are a really good team. You can tell that they are far into their season. They are really sharp on the day. We'll expect more of that next week and we're going to go there and give our best.

Q. Was there anything that you saw today -- I know obviously it's a disappointing result, but was there anything in the performance, any positives that you can draw upon that gives you kind of hope that you can build upon going into that second leg next week in México?

Yeah, I think you can see that we're still building upon our style of play and implementing Chris's style. The positive, we got some important players back on the field tonight for some minutes that were coming back from injury. The closer that we get to full strength, the better we are going to be as a team. We have some young players with some good minutes in a tough situation today, so these are all positives. Like I said we have some history in this competition.

Going there, down right now in a tough place to play, isn't really going to faze us. We are going to come out and play our style and we are going to give it our best.

Q. Between the early goal and quick response after the goal that was ruled off-side, how much do those goals suck the wind out of you guys?

Yeah, you can tell that they are a really sharp team. They are not top of the table for nothing. You can tell they have played together and they have good connections. Their reactions were really sharp, and the goal in the beginning of the game -- they put us under pressure. We wanted to come out and start strong and they had a better start than us. So these are all things that we need to improve upon, as well as set pieces in the second leg.

Q. I know you guys don't like making excuses, but under normal circumstances, this game is played at BMO Field and the fans are going wild and it's a full house. Particularly after they go ahead by a goal, you would get a big lift from the fans. How much do you miss that and how bizarre did it seem tonight having your home leg and there's nobody there?

Yeah, there's no two ways about it. We miss our fans dearly. Not just in this match but in every single match. But we're not trying to use that as an excuse. We've got a good setup down here. Playing in a couple different venues and we're doing everything that we can to churn out good results and win every single time we go out there on the field. So it wasn't there today for us. We're still a work-in-progress, but we're right back at it with a big game in Azteca next week, and after that, in Red Bull. So we are looking forward to a good week next week.

Q. Today is not the best performance that you have tonight, but the good thing is you got a tie faster the game coming back and the history and the background for defeating Mexican teams is on your side. So what do you expect for the second leg, because Toronto has been so complicated for Mexican teams, you kick out undefeated champions in the last tournament and you are facing the leadership of this tournament. But as I see you, you have good probability to get to the next round.

Yeah, we have a good history in the tournament because we've had a team that's been together for a while, and we have players who aren't scared of the moment. We know that they are a very good team. We know that Mexico City, Azteca, is a very difficult place to go play, but mentally that won't be a hurdle for us. We'll have guys that are ready to rise to the occasion, take our opportunities when we can, and go there to give everything and lay everything on the line and that's a really good characteristic of our team.

We are mentally strong even in tough situations and we have kind of been through this before in some type of way, so that's a very big positive for us and that gives us hope going into the second leg.

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