Plata leads TFC over Real Salt Lake
Posted August 13, 2011 9:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Joao Plata scored the lone goal as Toronto FC picked up its first league win in over a month with a 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
Toronto’s last win was a 1-0 result over the Vancouver Whitecaps at the end of June. The victory comes after four straight losses followed up by a pair of draws.
Plata scored with just under 15 minutes left when the Ecuadorean striker put in a low shot that Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando watched go by him into the left corner.
Toronto (4-11-11) had a pair of good chances for an early lead in the first half.
Danny Koevermans’ shot from outside the 18-yard box rolled just wide six minutes into the match.
That was followed up just a minute later with some fancy foot work by Plata that freed up some space, allowing him to cross to an unmarked Peri Marosevic whose shot was palmed away by Rimando.
Torsten Frings, playing in an unfamiliar position at the centre of Toronto’s defence, nearly contributed to a Salt Lake (10-6-6) goal 30 minutes into the match when he made a tackle on Fabian Espindola but failed to clear the ball.
Espindola found the ball with him alone on goal, but his shot went off the crossbar and out.
Milos Kocic, the goalkeeper filling in for Stefan Frei in the Toronto net, was solid as Salt Lake pressed late for an equalizer. He preserved the win with a diving save off a hard volley from Salt Lake midfielder Will Johnson, who is also from Toronto.
