Music: {allcanada} TFC top Whitecaps, win 4th CDN title

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

{allcanada} TFC top Whitecaps, win 4th CDN title

TORONTO -- From worst to first in the matter of four days.

Toronto FC scratched out a 1-0 win against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship Wednesday night, as the Reds were crowned kings of Canada for a fourth consecutive year.

Reggie Lambe scored the winner in the 83rd minute of a physical and at times foul-tempered affair that saw the teams play 10-on-10 for the last half hour after Sebastien Le Toux and Julian de Guzman were expelled.

Toronto won the two-game series 2-1 on aggregate. The teams battled to a 1-1 draw last week in Vancouver. By virtue of its win, Toronto automatically qualifies for the group stage of the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League.

The Whitecaps have never won this tournament, having finished runners-up to TFC the past four years.

The championship victory comes on the heels of forward Danny Koevermans sounding off after a weekend loss to DC United in MLS when he referred to TFC as "the worst team in the world."

Wednesday's victory provided some welcome relief for a beleaguered Toronto side dealing with an MLS-worst 0-9 record and the fallout from Koevermans' outspokenness.

It's hard to imagine Toronto being able to claw back into the MLS playoff race, even if it is still only May. So winning a fourth consecutive Canadian championship allowed the Reds to salvage something from what has turned out to be a disastrous 2012.

Another piece of silverware in the team's trophy cabinet should buy under-fire coach Aron Winter some more time, too. It's hard to see MLSE, the club's owner, axing the Dutchman so soon after winning the cup.

TFC captain Torsten Frings was back in the lineup after sitting out the last two matches with a shoulder injury.

Last week's stalemate in Vancouver meant the onus was on the Whitecaps to score a goal. But it was Toronto who looked the brighter side in the opening half, attacking with purpose and forcing Vancouver back on its heels.

Frings pushed forward and showed off his playmaking skills, setting up speedy Ecuadorian Joao Plata with a pair of scoring chances in the opening 10 minutes.

Toronto's much maligned defence, the worst in MLS with 21 goals against, did a good job of shutting down Vancouver's dangerous forward trio of Camilo, Eric Hassli and Le Toux. The Whitecaps' only real scoring opportunity of the first half came in the 24th minute when Alain Rochat flashed a header of a free kick past the far post.

Tensions boiled over early in the second half after a series of crunching tackles. A dead ball skirmish between Le Toux and Ryan Johnson turned hostile, and de Guzman was red carded for slapping Jun Marques Davidson in the face.

Davidson made the most of it by falling to the ground far too easily, but de Guzman was correctly sent off for his bonehead move. Le Toux earned his second yellow of the match in the fracas.

The Whitecaps offered very little in attack, with Hassli and Camilo effectively neutralized by a stout TFC back line. Instead, it was Toronto who looked more dangerous, pouring forward in numbers to try to put the game away.

The breakthrough came with seven minutes left in regulation. Ashtone Morgan made a smart run down the flank, and Nick Soolsma headed a pass over to Lambe who fired a low shot that beat Whitecaps goalkeeper Joe Cannon.

NOTES: Toronto is unbeaten in their last 13 games in this competition (eight wins and five draws)... TFC leads the all-time series against the Whitecaps with a 4-3-5 record.... Vancouver has not won at BMO Field since July 1, 2008... TFC returns to MLS action on Saturday when it hosts the Philadelphia Union. The Whitecaps visit the Portland Timbers on the same day... Toronto was missing defender Miguel Aceval (hamstring), while striker Atiba Harris (knee) was absent for Vancouver... TFC and the Whitecaps will meet again in MLS play at BMO Field on July 11...