TORONTO — The Richmond Kickers (5-6-5) put in a herculean defensive effort but fell short on the road against a surging Toronto FC II (6-5-6) who were enjoying all the benefits of finally being back at their home ground across the border, Friday evening. New signing Ty Johnson made his professional debut while Devante Dubose made his first appearance for the Kickers since a knee injury suffered a year ago.
Toronto started the match on the front foot with an intensely pressing offense. With the ball on the wing, Toronto played a cross into the six-yard box and Juan Pablo Monticelli went to clear the ball out of the area but it took an awkward deflection into the back of the Richmond goal bringing the scoreline to 1-0.
At the 23-minute-mark, Nil Vinyals was taken down in the box, and Richmond was awarded a penalty. The Spaniard stepped up to take the penalty, sent the keeper diving wildly to the wrong side, and slotted it into the right corner, leveling the scoreline 1-1.
Shortly after Vinyals’ goal, he was on the receiving end of a great cross by Luke Pavone and threw himself in the air for a diving header at goal, but Toronto’s Colin Patterson-Sewell was able to keep it out of the back of the net. With the first half coming to a close there was still much to be played for, with Richmond absorbing Toronto’s pressure and breaking on the counter.
The second half began and both teams continued to play their same style of physical play. Neither side granted one another the space to get in behind and find the back of the net once more. Around the 55th minute, Richmond was awarded a free kick outside of the Toronto box. Vinyals stood over the ball and sent a curling ball aimed at Jalen Crisler who beat his mark and reached the ball in the air but his attempt went just over the crossbar.
Following a bout of Toronto possession, Akira Fitzgerald made a pair of spectacular, acrobatic saves, denying Toronto a go-ahead goal. But Toronto’s attack would continue to press at the Richmond goal and Antonio Carlini curled a near point-blank shot that beat Fitzgerald to bring the scoreline to 2-1.
In the 73rd minute, Cameron Vickers, who came off the bench, played a perfectly-lofted through-ball pass that hit Jonathan Bolanos right in stride. As Patterson-Sewell came out to collect, he misread the situation, and Bolanos was free to take a shot on an empty goal from a difficult angle but the ball caught the wrong side of the post and rebounded out of play.
The Reds would continue to push for an equalizer, but Toronto was able to see out the remainder of the match.
While the Reds were without some regular starters because of Canadian travel restrictions, the squad embodied once again the next-man-up mentality. Nathan Aune put in a strong shift out of position in the midfield and more advanced areas while Johnson earned his debut and Dubose came in for his first taste of action since July 2020. Mumbi Kwesele earned another appearance in the second half as he continues to regain match fitness following a preseason knock, and Monticelli made his first start in a month after returning from a knock taken against North Texas SC on July 3.
The Reds return to City Stadium for some home-cooking to face New England Revolution II for the clubs’ third matchup this season. Richmond has the advantage in the season series after earning a 3-0 win on the road in the season opener and a 3-2 result at City Stadium back in June. The match presented by the YMCA of Greater Richmond is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 14.
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BOX SCORE
|
First Half |
Second Half |
Final |
|
|
Richmond |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Toronto |
1 |
1 |
2 |
LINEUPS
Toronto: Caleb Patterson-Sewell, Kevin Politz, Antony Curic, Luca Petrasso, Kobe Franklin, Steffen Yeates( 57’ – Julian Altobelli), Kosi Thompson, Dante Campbell, Antonio Carlini, Jayden Nelson (87’ – Rohan Goulbourne), Garrett McLaughlin ( 74’ – Erickson Gallardo).
Unused Substitutes: Mehdi Essoussi, Themi Antonoglou, Andreas Vaikla, Nakye Greenidge-Duncan
STATISTICS
|
Shots |
Saves |
Fouls |
Corners |
|
|
Richmond |
7 |
8 |
16 |
0 |
|
Toronto |
14 |
1 |
9 |
7 |
SCORING SUMMARY
|
16’ 25’ 69’ |
TOR RIC TOR |
Monticelli (OG) Vinyals (P) Carlini |
CAUTIONS SUMMARY
|
32’ 52’ 53’ |
TOR RIC TOR |
Carlini Falck Campbell |
|
58’ 88’ 89’ 90’ |
RIC TOR RIC RIC |
Aune Golbourne Bench Monticelli |
EJECTIONS SUMMARY
None
MATCH INFORMATION
