Toronto FC vs Columbus Crew: 3 key takeaways and recap

Toronto FC was looking to continue their winning ways in their home opener against the Columbus Crew, but could they grab the three points?

Columbus Crew SC were looking to come into BMO Field and take three points from the defending champions Toronto FC and turn MLS on its head early on into the 2018 season. Columbus got goals from both Frederico Higuain and Gyasi Zardes on either side of halftime to give the visitors the 2-0 win.

Both Columbus Crew and Toronto FC struggled with the windy conditions, but Higuain scored the first goal of the 2018 campaign as he converted a nice cross from Milton Valenzuela that Alex Bono wasn’t able to stop as it got passed the keeper.

Columbus came out charging in the second half, scoring less then a minute in when Gyasi Zardes latched onto a perfect pass from Pedro Santos. Zardes was making his first appearance for the Crew after being traded from the Los Angeles Galaxy and he immediately endeared himself to the Crew faithful.

Toronto FC had chances to claw their way back into the game when Sebastian Giovinco cut in from the right flank and curled a shot off the left post. Debutante Ager Aketxe had a chance to grab a goal, but his shot hit the crossbar and went out of play.

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Winning has become natural for Toronto FC, and winning at home has been just as easy, but things were different this time. The Reds lost only once at home last year and Toronto was going into the game today as the MLS Cup Champions, but didn’t play to that MLS Cup quality.

Good on Columbus Crew for being the better team on the day as they laid down the blueprint for how Toronto can be beaten by using the high press against the TFC defenders, but we still don’t expect them to lose many games.

Last year Toronto was the hunter trying to hunt down Seattle to take that MLS Cup and they achieved that, but this year they are being hunted by every team in MLS and the margin for error just got a little smaller for Toronto…..don’t hit the panic button just yet TFC fans.

(Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Three Key Takeaways

What does it all mean? While Toronto FC is considered the odds on favourites to win the MLS Cup again this was a statement game for the Columbus Crew. For the Crew to knock off the Reds in the home opener and in the fashion they did it may put a lot of doubt in the minds of TFC fans. Toronto will now turn their attention to Wednsday’s Champions League clash with Tigres, and that won’t be no walk in the park and the Reds are the underdogs for the first time in a while. Even after the Crew traded both Ola Kamara and Justin Meram they didn’t show any signs of that effecting them today.
Who stood out? Frederico Higuain. The scrappy and skilled Argentine showed why he is still regarded as one of the best players in MLS. He was able to create chances for his strikers, but he the goal he scored also shows he can still contribute offensively. Ager Aketxe made his debut for Toronto and didn’t look out of place. He was able to create some chances for Giovinco and Altidore and he also showed that he has some good offensive ability and offensive awareness with his strike that hit the crossbar.
Are Toronto that good? While it was a loss, and a loss at home, however, it was one game and fans shouldn’t panic as Toronto will ease back into the season and we’ll see the Toronto of old if not better as the season continues to go on.

Next: MLS Week One TV Schedule

With one game done already in the season and it being early days Toronto will now look ahead to their midweek clash against Tigres in the CONCACAF Champions League in the quarterfinals. This will be a tough task for Toronto if they play similar to the way they played today and the result won’t be flattering to the home squad.