Altidore double guides Toronto to 1st league win of season
For a Toronto FC side fearing a third successive defeat to kick off the 2018 campaign, a visit from Real Salt Lake is precisely what the doctor ordered.
Hoping to avoid matching last season's scant three-defeat haul, TFC jumped out to a 2-0 first-half advantage courtesy of a Jozy Altidore brace and some sloppy RSL defending on the way to a 3-1 victory.
It could have been worse were it not for veteran 'keeper Nick Rimando.
After VAR adjudged Damir Kreilach of a handball in the area, Sebastian Giovinco's 16th-minute penalty was stopped by a lunging Rimando minutes after the Real Salt Lake 'keeper denied Altidore from close range.
TFC would get a second chance from the spot minutes later, and this time it was Altidore who scored. The robust U.S international was clumsily brought down in the area by Salt Lake defender Justen Glad.
Jozy Altidore finds the back of the net for his second of the match to give @torontofc a 2-0 lead over @RealSaltLake going into the half. #TFCLive pic.twitter.com/VewKzq9aHw
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 31, 2018
Altidore made it 2-0 seconds before the interval when RSL's sloppy defending gifted the striker a straightforward left-footed finish.
The visitor cut TFC's lead in half in the 82nd minute when substitute Corey Baird deftly curled one into the far corner beyond an outstretched Clint Irwin, though it was too little too late for Mike Petke's charges. Tosaint Ricketts made it 3-1 seconds before the final whistle when the Canadian international corralled a rebound off the bar before pegging it off Rimando and into the back of the net.
With one eye on Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first-leg clash with Liga MX giant Club America, TFC boss Greg Vanney opted for a 4-4-2 that featured Gregory van der Wiel at centre-half and Ashtone Morgan at left-back, while Nicolas Hasler was handed a start as part of a midfield diamond. Irwin also featured in the starting XI after losing first-choice duties to Alex Bono last season.
Friday's win vaults TFC out of the Eastern Conference basement and takes it level with seventh-placed Montreal Impact on three points, while RSL continues to sit on the fringes of a top-six spot in the west on four points in four matches.