Toronto FC wins home opener
Robert scores only goal in 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake
Last Updated: Saturday, April 19, 2008 | 2:39 PM ET
CBC Sports
And a pair of newcomers shall lead them.
English midfielder Rohan Ricketts provided the creative inspiration while French winger Laurent Robert supplied the firepower to guide Toronto FC to a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon in the Canadian club's home opener.
Toronto FC's Danny Dichio, left, and Real Salt Lake's Carey Talley battle for the ball during the first half on Saturday.
(J.P. Moczulski/Canadian Press)
A sellout crowd of 20,219 fans at BMO Field saw Toronto, which began the Major League Soccer regular season with three consecutive road games, improve its record to 2-2.
Canadian goalkeeper Greg Sutton celebrated his 31st birthday by earning his first shutout of the campaign.
Saturday's game was Toronto's best effort of the season. The team played with poise and skill, making an opening day defeat to the Columbus Crew and a humiliating 4-1 loss to D.C. United the following week seem like distant memories.
How does coach John Carver account for the team's remarkable improvement?
"Coaching," joked Carver in the post-match news conference. "No, I think you have to look at the players we've brought in.
"I looked at our bench today and we've got some depth there. That's been a big factor for us."
Ricketts' debut impressive
Indeed, Toronto showed itself to be a new team brimming with confidence and attacking verve thanks to the additions of Ricketts, Robert and Honduran forward Amado Guevara.
Ricketts, signed by the club last week, was impressive in his MLS debut. The Englishman caused plenty of problems for the Real Salt Lake defence with his speed, sublime dribbling skills and penetrating runs down the right wing before being substituted late in the contest.
"I thought in the first half he showed glimpses of excitement," Carver said. "In the second half he looked tired, and that's why I substituted him."
Ricketts, who hasn't played in four months since being released from his contract with his previous club, English outfit Barnsley, was pleased with his performance.
"I enjoyed myself out there, especially in the first half," Ricketts said. "My teammates gave me a lot of the ball, which helped.
"Hopefully I can put in performances week in and week out, and score some goals."
Toronto's defence, having conceded a whopping eight goals through the first three games of the season, was solid and sturdy.
"That's a real, positive effort, because we've had some critics about the way we've defended," Carver said of his much-maligned back four. "I thought in the second half we had to defend more — it's the cliché about it being the game of two halves — and it certainly was today, but I thought we defended ever so well.
"We threw our bodies on the line."
Captain and right fullback Jim Brennan thought the central defensive pairing of Tyrone Marshall and Marco Velez, another newcomer to the team, worked well.
'We've been working hard all week in practice. We knew we were going to get it right. I thought Tyrone meshed well with Marco in the middle," Brennan said.
Real Salt Lake barely threatened
The first half was one-way traffic, with Toronto FC dictating the pace of the game and carving out a handful of scoring chances, while Real Salt Lake barely threatened the Toronto goal.
Robert broke the deadlock in the 31st minute with his first goal for Toronto. Guevara was brought down just outside the penalty box and Robert drove a low free kick through Real Salt Lake's defensive wall and past goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
"I knew if I put the ball on the wide side of the wall like I normally do, it would be easy for the goalkeeper to stop. So I changed my mind and put the ball low along the ground, and today I was lucky," Robert said.
Toronto nearly added a second goal just before halftime, but Rimando made a nice save on Marvell Wynne's shot from in close and Danny Dichio's rebound attempt just sailed over the crossbar.
Real Salt Lake finally discovered its attacking form at the start of the second half, earning a series of corner kicks and pinning Toronto inside its penalty box. Toronto FC dropped back as the game progressed, content to defend its lead and hit back at Real Salt Lake on the counter-attack.
The Utah club continued to press for the equalizer, only to be met with a steely defensive resistance each time they threatened to score, as Toronto held on for the win.
Toronto's next game is April 26 against the Kansas City Wizards (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 3:30 p.m. ET).
