Toronto FC Play New York Red Bulls to Scoreless Draw, Snap Losing Skid
Toronto FC snapped their losing skid as they played the New York Red Bulls to a scoreless draw in mid-week action at BMO Field.
Toronto came into tonight's match with a squad riddled with injuries, forcing coach Bob Bradley to make a number of adjustments to his lineup. TFC's youth and depth were clearly tested as some players were required to play out of their natural position in order to make the most of who was available.
The Italian duo of Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne had some promising moments in the attack and managed to create a few scoring opportunities, but they were unable to convert on those chances.
During his post-game press conference, Bradley noted that the Italians did a great job at times but felt as though there were instances where they could have done more, especially towards the end of the match when Bernardeschi had space in the box, but rushed a play.
"Would I like to see him [Bernardeschi] in that moment to find a way to slow down, pause, decide what foot to play on and slip the ball across to Lorenzo [Insigne] and we take the lead? Yeah," said Bradley. He then added, "I thought, by and large, can we still do more, and that's something I think about every day and in training and how we play and ideas, work on that, so we are going to see."
TFC youngster Kobe Franklin had an impressive performance as he continued to showcase his potential as he stepped up to fill a void on the backline. The 20-year-old did an excellent job in addressing the mistakes he made against New England this past weekend and had a much better outing at home against New York.
Bradley complimented Franklin for his performance and mentioned that he believes he looked more confident, saying:
"Just the way he competes in games right now has gone up a bunch of notches. That's what you want to see...I think I said against New England, he wasn't as sharp. He was hesitant, he didn't look as confident. We talked about that, we said, 'Come on, you've shown that you're a good player,' and he's responded really well. And I think tonight is another good night for him."
Toronto FC are back in action this Saturday, where they will look to get back in the win column when they travel to Austin to take on Austin FC, who has also had their fair share of struggles this season.
Photo Credit: Toronto FC (@TorontoFC - Twitter)