Canada's Osorio scores, hands tie to Toronto FC against Dallas FC in Bob Bradley's debut
Whitecaps' longest undefeated run against any opponent over after loss to Columbus
Toronto FC came as advertised Saturday in a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas, a work in progress under new coach Bob Bradley.
Toronto, which has gone through wholesale personnel changes under Bradley, showed good and bad — looking disorganized on defence at times while displaying flashes of a free-flowing attack. And while it had more of the ball and offered some nice attacking buildup play, that did not translate into shots on target.
But thanks to a Jonathan Osorio goal just before halftime, it rallied from an early deficit to emerge from a cool, wet Toyota Stadium with a point in its MLS season opener.
"I think football-wise there are moments in that game where I still expect that we can be sharper and better," said Bradley.
Colombian forward Jader Obrian put Dallas ahead in the ninth minute, poking home a low cross from Paul Arriola for a goal that needed confirmation by video review.
The goal came after Toronto fullback Jacob Shaffelburg, newly converted to fullback, coughed up the ball. Four passes later, with the Toronto defence at sixes and sevens, Obrian had the ball in the net after beating Shaffelburg to the ball at the back post.
WATCH l Osorio's equalizer earns draw for TFC against Dallas:
The assistant referee raised the flag but the goal was given after referee Jair Marrufo went to the pitchside TV screen to have a second look.
Shaffelburg atoned for earlier mistakes with a fine cross that Spanish forward Jesus Jimenez got a boot to, sending it past two defenders to the back post where Osorio was Johnny-on-the spot to tie the score in the 45th minute with TFC's first shot on target.
It was Osorio's 49th goal in all competitions for Toronto, good for third-best in the club record book. And it means he has scored in all 10 seasons with TFC.
TFC looked to go ahead in the 67th minute when Spanish playmaker Alejandro Pozuelo went down in a collision with defender Jose Martinez near the edge of the penalty box. Marrufo pointed to the penalty spot but then changed his mind after consulting with the video assistant referee and reviewing the play on the pitchside monitor.
Dallas appeared to have doubled the lead in the 30th as Toronto was cut open again. Obrian beat Toronto's Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty and passed to Jesus Ferreira whose deft touch put the ball past centre back Chris Mavinga. Arriola sent the ball back to the charging Ferreira who beat goalkeeper Alex Bono from close range.
But after another video review, Marrufo called off the goal for offside.
Ferreira had a chance to win it for Dallas as the clock wound down but his shot hit the side of the goal.
'You've just got to take a point'
"I think you've just got to take a point," said Toronto defender Shane O'Neill. "It was a winnable game but it was also a loseable game. We take the point and we look to improve."
U.S. international winger Paul Arriola, acquired from D.C. United in January in a blockbuster deal worth at least $2 million US in general allocation money, was a danger man for Dallas all day.
The pacey, elusive Arriola, who had a hand in the opening goal, is worth every penny judging from his 79 minutes Saturday.
Toronto had 56.5 per cent of the possession but was outshot 13-8 (3-1 in shots on target).
"Always the first game is a little bit tricky," Spanish coach Nico Estevez said after his first game in charge of Dallas.
"But overall we're happy with the performance because we created enough chances to win the game. We're not happy with the result because we want to win games at home," he added.
Toronto, Dallas aiming at better seasons
Both teams are looking to write happier stories this season.
Toronto, runner-up in the Supporters' Shield race in 2020, finished 26th out of 27 teams last year at 6-18-10 while Dallas was 23rd at 7-15-12.
Seventeen first-team players have left Toronto since last season, with young defender Luke Singh expected to go out on loan to a CPL team.
While Italian star Lorenzo Insigne won't join Toronto until July when his current deal with Napoli expires, Toronto fielded two high-profile newcomers in Jimenez and Mexican international centre back Carlos Salcedo.
Jimenez was dangerous at times but was off-target with a second-half header from a good position. Salcedo looked solid despite being in the middle of a backline that wobbled on more than a few occasions. The Mexican's self-confidence was evident in several sliding challenges.
Toronto's starting 11 featured five Canadians: Osorio plus 17-year-old Marshall-Rutty, 19-year-old Jayden Nelson and Deandre Kerr and 22-year-old Shaffelburg. There were six other Canadians on the bench.
Marshall-Rutty and Shaffelburg, who have both played winger in the past, started at fullback.
Bradley noted somewhat diplomatically that Shaffelburg "didn't have a perfect start," but adjusted well. And he said Marshall-Rutty looked "really quite good" in his debut as fullback.
While both players have oodles of talent, it seems a leap of faith to go with two repurposed wingers at fullback. Toronto is looking for help at the position, with veteran Italian Domenico Criscito expected to arrive from Genoa some day soon.
Nelson was the most impressive of the TFC young guns, showing real flair on the ball.
Mavinga, Kerr out at halftime
Bradley showed he is not afraid to hook players, replacing Mavinga and Kerr at halftime. Kerr never really got into the game while the mercurial Mavinga did not do enough to satisfy his coach.
"The biggest thing we continue to challenge Chris with is just his ability to stay more tuned into everything that goes on around him," said Bradley.
Captain Michael Bradley, Bob's son, moved into a tie for second place with recently retired fullback Justin Morrow for most Toronto appearances in all competitions with 254. Osorio leads at 293.
The Bradleys, who were also coach and player at the 2004 MetroStars, are one of four father-and-son coach/player combinations on the same team in MLS history, along with Adrian and Harrison Heath (Orlando, 2015-16), Robert and Konrad Warzycha (Columbus, 2013) and Josh and Owen Wolff (Austin FC, 2021-22).
Toronto returns home to host the New York Red Bulls next Saturday.
Whitecaps suffer hard shutout loss
Miguel Berry, the second-year striker who started over U.S. national team forward Gyasi Zardes, staked the Crew to a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute and Derrick Etienne Jr., followed in the 25th before Vancouver played the majority of the second half down a player.
Luis Diaz scored in the 84th and Zelarayan slalomed the defence for the final goal two minutes later.
Vancouver was unbeaten in eight games (five wins, three draws) in the series since Columbus won the first two matchups against the expansion team in 2011. It was the longest undefeated run against any opponent in Whitecaps' history.
The temperature for the Crew's earliest home opener was 32 degrees with a wind chill in the low 20s.
Berry opened the scoring with a little help from Vancouver defender Ranko Veselinovic. Berry took a pass from Zelarayan at the top arc, spun and after a first touch fired on goal.
WATCH | Whitecaps open season with ugly loss to Columbus Crew:
The ball glanced off the head of Veselinovic and bounced past goalkeeper Thomas Hasal.
Berry last season was fourth in MLS in goals per 90 minutes (0.86), scoring eight times in 840 minutes.
Etienne doubled the score after a pinpoint 30-yard overhead ball to the left side of the box by off-season signee Yaw Yeboah from Ghana. Etienne went to the far post for the score.
The Crew had a 5-0 shots on goal advantage in the first half and the afternoon got even more difficult for the visitors when defender James Nerwinski was sent off for a second yellow in the 53rd minute, the latter for impeding Yeboah in the open field.
Eloy Room faced zero shots on goal for the game while Hasal made three saves.
The Crew is 3-0-3 in the past six home openers. This was the first at Lower.com, which debuted on July 3.
With files from Field Level Media
