Richie Laryea had a helping hand in Toronto FC’s wild win on Saturday. Plus, Evelyne Viens scored in Roma’s win and Jacob Shaffelburg contributed in his first minutes of the season.
Here’s a look at Canadians in action over the weekend.
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Richie Laryea, Toronto FC
For a while on Saturday, it really looked like Toronto FC was headed for a truly terrible loss in a match they should have been well in control of against Colorado Rapids. Instead of a bad defeat, the Reds left a cold and windy BMO Field with all three points and took their undefeated run to four games. Canada defender Richie Laryea had his fingerprints all over the victory.
The hosts should have been ahead in the 12th minute. From a Raheem Edwards throw, Alonso Coello’s volley forced a diving save out of Zack Steffen, who parried the ball right into the path of Josh Sargent. Toronto’s record signing somehow scuffed his effort wide of what was almost a completely open net. The United States striker covered his face in disbelief.
The game took a turn (for the first time) in the 32nd minute. Taking a pass in his own half, Edwards was clattered over by Jackson Travis. Referee Ricardo Montero immediately produced a yellow card, but the call came down from VAR for a monitor check. Upon review, the card was upgraded to a red and Travis was off.
The TFC advantage wouldn’t last long. Just after the restart, Edwards bumped Wayne Frederick from behind just outside the area as he was to receive a ball that could have put him in alone on Luka Gavran. Romero didn’t initially award a foul, but again, the call came down from VAR. After going to the monitor, Romero determined that Edwards was the last man back and produced a straight red. Both teams were now on 10 men.
From the ensuing free kick just outside the 18-yard box, Paxten Aaronson went low and through the wall and past a diving Gavran to make it 1-0 in the 51st as a pall came over BMO Field. It was the United States midfielder’s third goal of the season. Questions could be asked of Gavran’s positioning on the goal.
The visitors would double their advantage only three minutes later through some calamitous defending from the Reds. Rafael Navarro worked into the area, marked by Walker Zimmermann. As he came towards goal, Navarro drew in two more TFC defenders with Frederick nearly unmarked at the far post. While the cross for Frederick didn’t work, the ball fell for Keegan Rosenberry who hammered home in the 54th to make it 2-0.
Toronto would pull one back in the 65th through Laryea. Played into the edge of the area by Sargent, Laryea caught Steffen napping. Clearly expecting a cross from Layrea, Steffen was caught completely flatfooted by a volley inside the near post to make it 2-1. The goal was the 31-year-old Laryea’s first of the season and 14th-career MLS goal. He almost had a second minutes later as his low drive from close range beat Steffen, but rattled off of the far post and out. Replays showed that, had Laryea scored, it would likely have been ruled offside.
If two red cards weren’t enough, Montero had a third in him in the 74th and, once again, Laryea was involved. Played in down the right by Jonathan Osorio, making his 499th TFC appearance, Laryea was shoved forward before he could enter the box by Miguel Navarro. Already sitting on a yellow, Navarro was shown a second and the Rapids were reduced to nine men.
While Steffen didn’t do himself too many favours on the Laryea goal, the equalizer from TFC was humiliating for the former Manchester City goalkeeper. With Sargent attempting to move forward and the Rapids playing a high line, Rob Holding forced a turnover to Rosenberry. Rosenberry sent a pass back to Steffen to reset the play and the Rapids captain made a complete hash of it. Steffen just misplayed the lofted ball back entirely and it rolled into his empty net to make it 2-2 in the 77th in one of the goofier own goals you will ever see.
The home side wrapped up the win in the 85th. Coello whipped a corner into the area where Sargent leapt the highest to head home for his first TFC goal and first-ever goal in MLS. After 12 minutes of stoppage, Romero finally blew his whistle and the Reds emerged with a 3-2 win.
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Evelyne Viens, Roma
Now in her third season at Roma, L’Ancienne-Lorette, Que.’s Evelyne Viens is on course for her second league title. With only five matches to play in the season, Le Giallorosse held a six-point lead over Inter heading into Friday’s match with Como. Viens helped ensure they maintained that lead atop the table.
The South Florida product almost opened the scoring in the In the 25th, Viens darted into the area and rifled a left-footed effort on goal. But Astrid Gilardi was game in the Como goal and did well to parry it over the bar.
Only seconds later, Le Giallorosse would be ahead and as great as Gilardi was on the Viens save, she would be at fault on the goal. Vilardi came out to collect Manuela Giugliano’s corner, but managed to let it slip through her hands and allow Emilie Haavi to poke home and make it 1-0 in the 26th.
The lead was doubled in the 28th from another Giugliano corner. This one came directly to Haavi who headed home with her back to goal. While Vilardi wasn’t at fault here like she was on the opener, her positioning on the corner could have been better.
If Roma thought they would be able to see out the remainder of the half comfortably, they were sorely mistaken. In the 29th, Como pulled one back. Coming out from the back, Winonah Heatley’s touch was too heavy and she was stripped by Nadine Nischler. She dropped off for the oncoming Alex Chidiac, whose low drive made it through Rachele Baldi to make it 2-1.
The duo responsible for the Como opener would switch roles in the 41st. From a Como throw, Chidiac gained possession after the ball ricocheted off of a pair of Roma defenders. She set up Nischler just outside the area and her powerful shot from distance beat the diving Baldi to tie it at 2-2.
The visitors weren’t done. In the final minute of the half, Chidiac played in Fortesa Berisha on the right. Her shot deflected off of the diving Heatley into the Roma goal to make it 3-2 for Como. Baldi had no chance with the ball changing direction the way it did. The goal was officially credited as an OG.
Roma levelled the match almost directly after the restart. With Viens lurking in front of goal, Haavi sent in a fine pass in her direction. Meeting it with her left foot, Viens swept the ball past Vilardi to even things up at 3-3 in the 46th. The goal was the third league goal of the season for Viens.
La Giallorosse would pull back ahead in the 54th and this time for good. Giugliano sent a long ball forward in the hopes that somebody could latch on to it. The ball should have been dealt with by Giulia Rizzon, but she was too slow to get to it and was dispossessed by Alayah Pilgrim, who was now in alone on Vilardi. From a sharp angle, she smashed home with her right foot to earn the three points for Roma with a 4-3 victory.
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Jacob Shaffelburg, Los Angeles FC
Time is of the essence for the man nicknamed Maritime Messi.” After being sidelined for eight weeks following groin surgery, Kentville, NS’s Jacob Shaffelburg made his Los Angeles FC debut on Saturday against Orlando City. The Toronto FC youth product was acquired by LAFC in late December in exchange for General Allocation Money.
Missing important international windows with the injury, Shaffelburg must hit the ground running if he wants to earn himself a spot on Jesse Marsch’s World Cup team. With much of the 26-man roster already constructed in Marsch’s head, Shaffelburg understands that he’s behind the eight-ball when it comes to forcing himself into the conversation. But he can only control his own play and made the first appearance of his sixth MLS season on the weekend.
By the time he came on in the 58th minute, the match was long over. Los Angeles headed into the half up 5-0 on the Lions with Denis Bouanga scoring a natural hat-trick. Still, Shaffelburg managed to make a mark on the match.
In the 67th minute, Ryan Hollingshead found Shaffelburg down the right side. The Canada winger sent in a fine ball to the front of goal for an unmarked Nathan Ordaz whose shot was denied Maxime Crepeau in the Orlando goal. Ordaz probably should have scored, but Crepeau was full value on the save.
Shaffelburg would get his assist only minutes later. With LAFC probing just outside the Orlando area, David Martinez went out wide for Shaffelburg. Spotting Tyler Boyd unmarked in front of the six-yard box, Shaffelburg sent in a fine cross for the former USMNT winger to head home to wrap up the scoring at 6-0 in the 70th. In his time on the pitch, Shaffelburg showed the kind of play-making that could make him a real asset for Marsch this summer.
