Match 1: Dominated in Vancouver. 4-2 Whitecaps

Toronto FC opened the 2011 MLS Season with a loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps, in the Whitecaps MLS debut.

The speed of the Whitecaps attackers seemed to give TFC fits generating 11 corner kicks, and with the exception of the early minutes of the match, Vancouver was dominant all over the pitch. If Whitecaps striker Atiba Harris was a better finisher, this one could have easily been 6-2. Fortunately, Harris put his best Chad Barrett impersonation on and missed several good chances.

New TFC boss Aron Winter still seems to be feeling out his roster. After being dominated early in the 2nd half, Winter brought on Yourassowsky and Zavarise and their arrival initiated a marked improvement in TFCs midfield play. I would hope this will warrant starts for these players over the likes of Peterson and Sturgis. While Peterson was involved and had some decent chances, Sturgis was completely invisible. Ty Harden had a terrible match, and Cann and Nana struggled throughout.

The new Dutch attackers were largely invisible also. All of the TFC attack came from two familiar sources. Dero slotted home an excellent through pass from Santos, who also found the mark with a spectacular left footed strike from 20 yards out.

TotalTFC returns!

FULL TIME WHISTLE 4-2 VANCOUVER WINS!

90+3 - TFC defenders can't seem to close the distance on the Vancouver attackers. Either not enough speed or not enough effort. Either way they have been terrible.

90+1 - Santos with some nifty footwork in midfield.

88:00 -ANOTHER Vancouver corner. Cleared safe.

87:30 - Dero floats a free kick into the area, bounces around until it ends up on the foot of Makubuya, who puts it wide

86:30 - Khalfan whiffs on the volley, gets it again and puts on on target. Frei with the stop

85:00 - Long balls are creating dangerous opportunities for Vancouver. TFC defenders being exposed with speed

83:00 -Zavarise generates a dangerous chance with good hustle

82:30 - Hassli comes off to a standing ovation from the home crowd

81:00 - TFC on the counter, Red shirts fall all over the box. Goal kick for Nolly.

80:26 - Vancouver maintains possession off the corner which results in their 11th cornerkick

79:00 - Hassli again manages to get clear behind the Toronto line. 10th corner for Vancouver

78:50 - Dero leads the attack, Yourassowsky shows some speed down the wing. That could be a nice combination in the future for TFC

77:50 - Harden again with a brutal pass. This one fortuantely ends up on Gargans foot

77:17 - TFC finally showing signs of life

76:21 - Hooks over the bar

76:00 - Dero lines it up

75:00 -De Merrit with a hard tackle, free kick TFC just outside the box.

74:00 - MAICON SANTOS! From just outside the box, left foot to the top left corner. 4-2!

73:30 - Another through ball by Vancouver, TFC can't handle it, luckly goes too far.

71:56 - Hassli finishes a 2-on-0 all the way from HALF - disgraceful effort by TFC. 4-1 Vancouver

71:26 - This is closer to the lineup I expected to see at the start of the match.

70:43 - Toronto Substitution: IN Yourassowsky OUT: Lurch

70:00 - Harden AGAIN gives the ball away cheaply

68:44 - I'm happy that Sturgis is coming out. I was less than impressed by his play today. Excited to see Zavarise's TFC debut.

68:30 - Toronto Substitution: IN: Zavarise OUT: Sturgis

67:30 - Vancouver Substitution: IN: Knight OUT: ?

66:00 - good play by TFC ends up on the foot of Lurch Peterson, who drives it right at a defender and manages to hurt himself

65:30 - Harris in CLEAR on a breakaway. Frei stands his ground. If Harris could finish it would be 6-1. Thank goodness he can't

64:50 - Dero hits an awkward one right at Nolly. 1st shot for TFC this half?

63:00 - Not 2-1 anymore. Harris finally hits the goal. Reds just a mess trying to defend that corner. 3-1

62:30 - Yet another Vancouver corner. It's astounding that it is only 2-1

60:00 - Vancouver having their way all over the pitch. Outclassing TFC at every position

58:40 - Frei handles the corner just ahead of DeMerrit. How many more can TFC deal with?

57:22 - STILL all Vancouver. TFC is hanging on by their fingernails here. Corner is cleared, but no possession in midfield for TFC. Ball back in for ANOTHER Vancouver corner

56:00 - Dunfield hits a poor corner. TFC struggles to clear with any control. Nolly fires it back up for Vancouver.

55:30 - Harden puts the corner behind goal. Lets do it again!

54:40 - Cann comes back to clear a dangerous cross to safety behind the goal. Corner Vancouver.

52:40 - All Vancouver so far this half.

52:00 - Good freekick by Vancouver requires a good save by Frei

51:00 Harden is just out to lunch right now

50:30 - Harris through on goal, gets taken down clean by Nana.

48:00 - Haslii gets whistled for a jersey pull - still cheekily puts it behind Frei and earns a booking for his troubles

47:06 - We'll see if Winter can make some adjustments to generate more chances out of ball possession

Half time Substitutions: TFC IN: Makubuya OUT: Soolsma Vancouver IN: ? OUT: Chiumiento

45 + 4 - Freekick TFC - bounces around in the area, finally Lurch Peterson gets a head on it but Nolly pulls it in easily

45 + 3 - Harris bowls over Nana and goes in on goal. Harris can't even come close to hitting the net today. Nowhere near

45 + :2:17 - TFC moving slowly down the wing. Nothing doing inside the box

45 + :35 - Pretty obvious that Vancouver adapted to the TFC formation. The Reds have been bottled up since the Dero goal

45:00 - 5 minutes stoppage time

44:25 - Corner for Vancouver, safe hands by Frei as he goes up to get it

43:30 - Gargan gets yellow

41:00 - Dero can't pull in a bad pass, Midfield disappears allowing Vancouver to walk in on the TFC backline

40:00 - Great play develops in midfield for Vancouver, no finish from Harris

39:00 -Yellow card on Harris

38:30 - Another great chance for Vancouver on a good low cross

37:00 - Santos brought down, no space to turn, and no midfielders to pass to.

36:00 - Vancouvers 3rd corner to TFCs 0 - well delivered, ends up behind the goal on an unlucky deflection for Vancouver

35:00 - TFC midfield has been disappointing. All the good touches have come from Dero and the 3 forwards

32:30 - Soolsma and Dero get their signals crossed up. That could've been sweet if they were on the same page.

31:34 - Sturgis gets yellow for a late tackle

30:52 - Vancouver taking a defensive look to their 4-4-2.

30:10 - Too much of a gap forming between TFCs defenders and attackers.

27:11 - Yellow Card issued to Dunfield for excessive celebration

26:46 - Chuimiento sent that ball through. Cann and Nana not having the best of halves..

25:55 - Beautiful through ball to hometown boy Terry Dunfield 2-1 Vancouver.

22:44 - Great set-piece results in a good chance. Safe hands by Frei who was well positioned to save the open header

21:55 - Free kick Vancouver

20:59 - BIG collision at the edge of TFCs 18 yd box

20:00 - Lovely ball by Santos to spring Dero free

19:32 - DE-RO! DE-RO! 1-1

18:40 - Hideous giveaway by TFC in the back

15:20 - Not sure who was supposed to mark Hassli on that one. Lurch Peterson came back too late, both CBs were covering the short option who looked to be in an offside position anyway. TFC made a mess of that one.

14:16 - Vancouver won't have to wait as long as we did for their first MLS goal. Hassli unmarked. 1-0

13:30 - Nice ball by Gargan goes begging for a head. Goal Kick

12:20 - Maicon Santos strays offside... will Vancouver trap out the 4-3-3?

11:30 - Hassli gets away with one there...

9:43 - Quick short corner by Vancouver goes high. Nana and Cann are going to have to be stellar for this 4-3-3 to work.

7:30 - But the math works both ways; stong Vancouver attack results in a corner.

6:41 - Vancouver seems to be having difficulty trying to contain the TFC attack, it seems to be just a numbers thing. TFC always has an open option on one of the wings.

5:50 - DeRo puts a bit too much on an open cross opportunity.

5:00 - Anyone notice some odd camera work from the main camera? angle seems funny and really far away..

1:22 - Nice switch by Santos, sets up Martina who gets the ball to DeRo for the first shot on goal.


Prematch:

- Interested to see what Strugis can bring to the 11 shirt, and how the Dutch pair mesh with Santos up front. Not to mention Aron Winter's approach to the MLS game. Lots to be excited about for this season for TFC.

- TSN intro showcasing the history of the Vancouver Whitecaps. 1979 NASL Soccer Bowl Champs etc. etc. blah blah. Pretty jealous to be honest. Can't wait for TFC to have a historic highlight reel that doesn't include Andy Welsh scoring a goal.