Red Bulls Fail While Altidore Flops

The Red Bulls went into BMO Field knowing they had to score more than once to force Toronto FC’s hand if they wanted to make a statement in this match and in some ways they have and haven’t. Because at the end of the two legs the Red Bulls failed to advance as Toronto FC moves on to the East Final thru Away Goals.

Bradley Wright-Phillips found a way to get the boys on the board in the 53rd minute as Daniel Royer was given the ball to his teammate around midfield and just decided to give it a lash.

When Royer struck the ball it looked to be going towards the far post and an easy grab for Alex Bono, but somehow Wright-Phillips found a way to take a touch off his knee, or his upper leg and the ball changed course and headed for the near post and in.

For the Englishman he has finally converted his 100th goal in all competitions scoring 86 regular season goals, also converting fourteen in CCL play, US Open Cup Play with four and nine playoff goals.

It looked like Bradley may have gotten the second goal of the night in the 62nd minute as Tyler Adams found a way to back heel a cross from Royer. As BWP got to the loose ball, Bono came off his line and smothered the shot preventing a major disaster.

After a full 180 minutes thru two legs the Red Bulls would win the match by a goal to nil, leveled the aggregate at two a piece, but sadly the Red Bulls would fall to the dreaded Away Goals as Toronto FC advanced by a final of two goals to one.

But sadly this second leg will be discussed on the poor and disgusting display of petulance, poor sportsmanship and just a terrible negative that saw the Supporters Shield Winners in Toronto FC trying to bully their way to victory and sadly negative football reigned at BMO Field.

It all got started in the 33rd minute when Sebastian Giovinco was trying to win the ball back from Tyler Adams, but instead gave Adams a nasty, hard leg sweeping foul and the whistle was blown. Jozy Altidore at that time tried to be a peace keeper.

But while Referee Chris Penso was trying to sort the situation out, Altidore and Sacha Kljestan were arguing about the situation and then Altidore got too close to Kljestan’s face. That’s where Sacha tried to push Altidore back, then Jozy went down to easily like a sack of potatoes.

Penso did the proper thing and booked both men for their little get together. While Toronto accomplished what they wanted by keeping the Red Bulls away from their net and the scoreboard, something inexplicable happened inside the BMO Field Tunnel.

Somewhere in an area where the fans of Toronto FC were looking thru the glass another incident broke out and when initial reports were being told it was between the coaches Jesse Marsch and Greg Vanney, we soon saw at the beginning of the second half that both sides started the match down to ten men.

Both Altidore and Kljestan were shown Red Cards and were told to remain inside their respective dressing rooms for the rest of the match. This was a black eye for the league and for Toronto FC as they truly didn’t want to play the beautiful game, but wanted to act like petulant children who thought they could bully the game in a negative way.

“The first bit is pretty obvious he wanted to stand over Tyler Adams and intimidate him and I came in to ask him to stop. Then he got in my face I pushed him back and then he fell down fairly easily in my opinion.” said Sacha Kljestan.

“Then at half time he shoved me into the wall and I have the clear Conscience I don’t feel I deserve a red card so it’s a pretty helpless feeling that I couldn’t help the team in the second half.”

And if that’s not enough look at this tweet that FOX Soccer saved as Altidore tried to delete it of Twitter during the scrum. Click the picture that has a rude message at the bottom if you don’t see the whole thing.

If this isn’t embarrassing enough from a man that was brought up thru the Red Bulls Youth Academy system and the same club that gave him his first real chance at being a professional, then Jozy Altidore has lost the plot and sadly has lost it altogether.

But at the end of the day while the Red Bulls did go down swinging, sadly it’s the same old story as they continue to fall at the wrong time and haven’t earned a return trip to the MLS Cup Final since the 2008 season and haven’t won a major trophy again.

Once again this side will be trying to plot their course thru three different tournaments as they will begin once again for international glory in the CONCACAF Champions League with a full MLS Season and another trip thru the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and hope to qualify for the playoffs.

This offseason is going to get interesting once again and now we have to see what happens to the roster as the Red Bulls will either keep, lose or not bring back certain players for the 2018 roster as there will be changes coming to the roster and fast.