{
    "title": "Toronto FC draws first blood against Vancouver Whitecaps FC",
    "modified_at": "2026-05-05 13:32:35",
    "published_at": "2014-05-08 02:35:00",
    "url": "https://news.canadasoccer.com/toronto-fc-draws-first-blood-against-vancouver-whitecaps-fc",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/IUEd",
    "culture": "en",
    "language": "EN",
    "subtitle": "What looked like a straightforward 1-0 win for Toronto FC over the Vancouver Whitecaps turned into a hard-fought 2:1 victory after a pair of late goals exchanged by both sides brought the opening game of the Amway Canadian Championship semifinals to life.",
    "slug": "toronto-fc-draws-first-blood-against-vancouver-whitecaps-fc",
    "body": "<p>Jermain Defoe opened the scoring in the 28th minute after Gilberto slipped a perfectly placed through ball past the Vancouver back line. Defoe beat a tight offside angle, pushed the ball forward and tapped the ball past goalkeeper Marco Carducci to give the Reds a 1-0 lead at the half-hour mark.</p><p>Michael Bradley gave Toronto a second in the 89th minute after picking up a pass from Defoe and beating Carducci on at the far post with a low shot. The 2-0 result seemed assured, but subsititute Kekuta Manneh gave the Whitecaps a goal of their own in added time.</p><p>Tempers flaired soon after and the two teams came together in a confrontation that was dealt with quickly by referee Mathieu Bourdeau.</p><p>The first half was a one-sided affair, with Toronto FC creating most of the chances. Gilberto came closest to scoring, missing a header just wide. Defoe&rsquo;s goal opened the game up a bit, though Bradley picked up a yellow card for a hard challenge in midfield not long after.Vancouver nearly found an equalizer in the 43rd minute when Russell Teibert slipped through the Toronto backline after a one-two with Residency midfielder Marco Bustos in the box. TFC &lsquo;keeper Joe Bendik came off his line and saved the shot, but the ball rebounded fortuitously to Nicol&aacute;s M&eacute;zquida, who saw his goal-bound effort saved off the line by Doneil Henry to preserve Toronto&rsquo;s lead.</p><p>The second half gave the Whitecaps a few chances at goal, but on each occasion Bendik came up with a big save to keep the clean sheet. Carlyle Mitchell picked up a yellow card for a tackle on Toronto&rsquo;s Issey Nakajima-Farran in the 49th minute, and Nigel Reo-Coker got one of his own on the hour mark for a similar foul.</p><p>Vancouver head coach Carl Robinson made the first change of the game, with Omar Salgado entering for Bustos in the 63rd minute and testing Bendik with a powerful shot not long after. Despite also throwing on the team&rsquo;s hot hands in Manneh Sebasti&aacute;n Fern&aacute;ndez, the &lsquo;Caps saw themselves undone by Bradley&rsquo;s late finish.</p><p>The visitors did get a glimmer of hope, however, when Manneh pounced three minutes after TFC&rsquo;s second to cut the aggregate deficit and give the team a valuable away goal heading into next Wednesday&rsquo;s return leg at BC Place.</p><p><a href=\"https://canadasoccer.com/files/CanadaSoccer_AmwayCanadianChampionship_TORvVAN_20140507.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Match Report: Toronto FC 2:1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC</strong></a></p>",
    "header": {
        "large": "https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/45be42f3-8384-407f-bf19-286bf80bf87c/-/preview/1200x1200/-/format/auto/",
        "release": "https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/45be42f3-8384-407f-bf19-286bf80bf87c/-/preview/1200x1200/-/format/auto/"
    },
    "author": {
        "first_name": "Integration",
        "last_name": "Integration"
    },
    "format_version": 5
}