Toronto FC didn’t deserve MLS cup glory
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Seattle Sounders have won their first ever MLS Cup after pulling off a 5-4 penalty shootout victory over favourites Toronto FC, watched by a record TV audience of 3.5 million.
The 2016 MLS Cup will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest steals in football history, comparable to Chelsea’s triumph in the 2012 Champions League, when they edged past Barcelona and Bayern Munich courtesy of ultra defensive play and plenty of sheer luck.
While the people of Seattle have been jubilantly celebrating their unexpected victory, many football fans have been left scratching their heads as to how the Sounders had come away with a winner, with many going as far as to suggest that they were undeserving champions.
To some extend, those suggestions are correct. Throughout 120 minutes of play, Seattle Sounders failed to register a shot on target and showed little chance of winning the trophy prior to the penalty shootout. The three shots that they did take were all off target - the lowest tally ever recorded in an MLS Cup final.
However, despite Seattle’s disappointing performance, Toronto FC didn’t deserve to lift the trophy, either. Yes, they were the better team. However, while the eventual winners failed to create chances, the losers failed to put theirs away.
Toronto had a fantastic season, eventually finishing in third place in the Eastern Conference narrowly behind first and second placed New York Red Bulls and New York City FC. While they didn’t produce the same amount of goals as the likes of the two New York clubs, Orlando City SC or LA Galaxy, they managed to find the back of the net in all but five of their games throughout the regular season. Yet, they failed to produce goals when it really mattered.
Worse yet, they had more opportunities than usual to find the winning goal. Throughout the regular season, Toronto registered approximately 4.8 shots on goal per game. However, throughout the MLS final they hit the target seven times, while they also saw 10 shots blocked by the opposition defence. There were plenty of opportunities for Greg Vanney’s side to win the game, but they seemingly lost the clinical edge that has guided them to the final at the worst possible time.
Big games always provide one moment of magic that keeps people talking throughout the weeks that follow. Toronto didn’t provide that big talking point - Stefan Frei did when he pulled off an incredible save late on to deny Jozy Altidore what appeared to be a certain goal, which ultimately earned him the MLS Cup MVP award. Yet, Seattle are undeserving champions.
Toronto had a fantastic season, deserved to be in the final and will undoubtedly build on what has been a good year for the club. However, to claim that Seattle weren’t worthy of lifting the MLS Cup is unfair. Seattle Sounders produced the goods, albeit not in the best fashion. Yet, in football goals win games and Seattle eventually produced them when Toronto couldn’t.
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