TFC displeased with call but will take point against mighty Atlanta United FC
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Updated: August 4, 2018 9:26 PM EDT
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ATLANTA — In a gritty effort, Toronto FC battled through a dicey penalty call and two more goals from the red hot Josef Martinez to pull out a 2-2 draw with league-leading Atlanta United FC on Saturday afternoon.
Facing the premier and most explosive squad in Major League Soccer, TFC was outshot 22-5 and rallied from Martinez's 67th-minute goal to stun the 45,191 on hand at a rollicking Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Atlanta had nearly all of the buildup in the first half (60% of possession and a 7-1 shots edge) but Sebastian Giovinco opened the scoring just prior to the blowing of the halftime whistle, giving Toronto some unexpected momentum.
Martinez drew a controversial penalty in the 52nd minute and converted after TFC argued vehemently and VAR upheld the call and then the striker, who is just a goal behind the MLS single-season record of 27 now, put his club back up in the 67th minute by expertly managing to head in a fine pass by Hector Villalba as two TFC defenders got caught watching.
At that point the game appeared to be all but over, but Toronto refused to give in. Giovinco hit a shot off of the post behind Brad Guzan and substititute Tosaint Ricketts managed to bury a pass from fellow Canadian Jonathan Osorio a minute into stoppage time to keep the Reds rolling, leaving the Atlanta players and the big crowd wondering what had just happened.
What happened was the club showed heart and goalkeeper Alex Bono turned in a monster effort, making a number of massive stops, including a robbery of Martinez early and then a game-changing stop of a Miguel Almiron breakaway in the 85th minute.
"I felt like I was trying to do my job, to give the guys a chance to put points on the board for us and that's what they did," Bono said in the TFC locker room after his teammates had tried to cheer up the visibly frustrated player.
The frustration stemmed from the penalty call which had left the entire locker room and head coach Greg Vanney completely perplexed, especially after VAR upheld it.
"It's a soft penalty," captain Michael Bradley told Postmedia.
"Over the course of the year you hope that these things even out a little bit, that you're on the right side of some of those. Obviously there's a little bit of contact, but seems to me that Martinez is the one who is trying to initiate a lot of that," Bradley said.
"But like I said, on a day like today you don't want to spend too much time worrying about that. All you can hope is that at the end of the year these things come out in the wash."
Still, as Vanney put it, it was "a penalty kick) that shouldn't be a PK … goals change things." All of a sudden Atlanta had the momentum and it just wasn't clear why. Bono got a hand on the ball and as Bradley mentioned Martinez certainly appeared to be the one seeking out the contact.
"Apparently it's not obvious to some people (that he got a hand on the ball first)," said an exasperated Bono.
"I thought obviously I got my hand to it, that was my vantage point of it and when I watched the replay that's my vantage point. I don't want to criticize the referees, that's not what I'm about. The decision is the decision and people are always going to be disappointed with calls and people are always going to think calls are correct, (but) I'd love to sit down with someone and talk about it, what the guys in the booth were looking at and what they saw and why they decided to uphold the call, but that's not how this works so you move on to the next one."
Though the penalty being called and then upheld wasn't the best break, Atlanta was the more threatening side for most of the night, so the third straight 2-2 draw in three all-time meetings between these two clubs seemed just in the end.
And for all those ready to crown Atlanta the new kings of MLS after all of the records TFC sent last year, Vanney had a message.
"Everyone wants to hand the mantle over to Atlanta, but we're not ready to give anything up, so we'll take that (point)," Vanney said.
"That's what I felt like the script was it was supposed to be Atlanta's day and it wasn't so we'll take it."
Atlanta United came in leading MLS in points, goals and goal differential, but Toronto's much-improved defence held firm for most of the encounter.
"Everyone knows that Atlanta is one of the tougher places in the league to play and for us to grind out 2-2, also coming from behind to get that second goal says a lot about our character, says a lot about how far we've come," Bono said.
"Not a lot of people would say two months ago would say that we would have come out 2-2 after this game so I'm proud of the guys, proud of the effort, we put a real shift in today."
The game turned ugly late, with Almiron allegedly spitting at or on Toronto defender Chris Mavinga, who was incensed and was held back by Bradley before landing a shove to the face of Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, earning MAvinga a red card, meaning he'll miss next Sunday's game against New York City FC at BMO Field. Jozy Altidore grabbed Almiron by the throat at one point
Asked what he saw during the fracas, Bradley told Postmedia he didn't get a good look.
"Again, two good teams, put a lot into it, obviously it's only August, but in some way it had the feel of a game that had a little more riding on it. When there's a lot of competitors on the field, then these things happen," Bradley said.
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MARTINEZ STILL ROLLING
ATLANTA — Josef Martinez just can't be stopped.
Atlanta United FC's star striker scored two more goals in Saturday's 2-2 draw with visiting Toronto FC, leaving the Venezuelan a goal away from tying the league record for scores in a season and two away from holding the record all on his own.
Martinez scored early in the second half after drawing a controversial penalty and nearly opened the scoring in the first half. Only a great save by Alex Bono that had Toronto captain Michael Bradley pumping his fist in delight denied Martinez a potential hat trick and left him glancing toward the heavens.
Bono had been heading to his right, but dove back to his left to grab the ball. The diving effort left him holding his shoulder as play stopped for a while, but he stayed in the game and was a huge factor the rest of the way.
Still, Bono could do nothing to thwart a textbook Martinez finish in the 67th minute, with Martinez just managing to flick on a header past Bono.
It was por marking by Eriq Zavaleta and Chris Mavinga, but yet another brilliant effort by Martinez to get to the ball. It wasn't even clear to all that he had deflected it, but he nodded his head immediately when a teammate asked seconds after it went in.
"He's very smart with his runs off the blind shoulder," Bono said.
"We spent a lot of time preparing for that. Just a little lapse, just kind of let him run off our shoulder in the blind spot and that's how he makes a living, scoring goals just like he does."
Martinez, who subbed off in the 79th minute before Toronto rallied, now has 26 goals in 24 games. Roy Lassiter scored 27 in 30 games and Chris Wondolowski and Bradley Wright-Phillips tied the mark in 32 games apiece more recently.
– Ryan Wolstat
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