Goalkeeper and Defense
GK – Sean Johnson – 5.5
Sean Johnson fell into a rough task Friday night. New York City FC allowed 16 shots from Toronto FC, nine of those shots were on target. Johnson made five saves, but he also allowed four goals, one of which came from a penalty kick. The recent USMNT starter did make a couple of nice saves, but he was consistently bombarded by Toronto as the home team outclassed New York City’s defense.
RB – Anton Tinnerholm – 4.5
Anton Tinnerholm has been a very good two-way full-back for most of his MLS career. However, he has had a slow start to the 2019 season. He again struggled to make an impact on the offensive end.
Defensively, Tinnerholm had trouble dealing with Toronto’s depth. New York City play their full-backs very high, even on the road. However, while Toronto was attacking, Tinnerholm ended up getting dragged inside, close to Maxime Chanot, which gave Justin Morrow a ton of space on the left. Statistically speaking, Tinnerholm just had a single tackle and clearance.
CB – Maxime Chanot – 5.5
Maxime Chanot was the best of New York’s defenders this match, though none of them were very good. This may have been because Toronto attacked from their right side and Jozy Altidore more often targetted Chanot’s partner, Alexander Callens. Chanot had two tackles, three interceptions, and three clearances. Those may seem like solid numbers, but statistics in soccer are nothing without context, and considering how often Toronto had possession around New York City FC’s box, he should have had more.
CB – Alexander Callens – 4
Alexander Callens had a poor showing on Friday night. It could be summarized with one play: Jozy Altidore created separation going after a lobbed ball in the box and Callens had to tug on his shirt to keep him from breaking away. Following a VAR review, TFC were awarded a penalty and Alejandro Pozuelo scored Toronto’s second of the night. Altidore operated off Callens’ shoulder all night and had his number.
Callens also had trouble dealing with pressure from the opposing team. He is good at passing out of the back but was just four for eight in long pass attempts this match. He finished the match with two tackles, two interceptions, and three clearances.
LB – Ben Sweat – 5
Like Tinnerholm, Ben Sweat failed to make an impact on the match, especially on the offensive end. However, he was marginally better on defense. He had one tackle, three interceptions, and one clearance. Considering how well Ronald Matarrita played last match, it is surprising he was left out. It would not surprise me at all if there was more of a timeshare between the two left-backs this season.