Toronto FC: 3 takeaways from 2-1 preseason loss to Houston Dynamo
By Paul Taylor
Breaking down Toronto FC’s 2-1 loss to Houston Dynamo on Wednesday in Austin, Texas, which ended their run of three consecutive preseason wins.
Toronto FC has been on a roll of late during the preseason, with three straight victories. However, this came to an end on Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo, who triumphed 2-1.
With the regular season nearly here, there is a growing importance with every passing preseason game. In this respect, here are three takeaways and other notes from Wednesday’s frustrating loss in Austin, Texas:
1) Control doesn’t equal success
As you would expect with preseason nearly over, TFC put out a strong starting XI for the first half. The lineup included the likes of Michael Bradley, Jesus Jimenez, Chris Mavinga, Jonathan Osorio, Alejandro Pozuelo and Carlos Salcedo.
What was arguably most encouraging was how much the Reds controlled possession during the opening 45 minutes. Considering the team included Jimenez and Salcedo, this is a positive indication of how much the recent additions have settled in.
On the other hand, a minor concern was the inability to take advantage of the amount of possession. Toronto FC found it difficult to break down their opponents, with the windy conditions providing an additional obstacle.
At the same time however, the Dynamo also had to contend with said windy conditions. They opened the scoring in the fifth minute through Sebastian Ferreira, providing an early setback for TFC from which they could not entirely recover.
Toronto FC similarly controlled possession without much success during their previous game against the Chicago Fire, albeit in a 1-0 win. With preseason being used to familiarise players with the game plan and teammates, it will be interesting to see how proficient the club is at creating and converting chances once the real action begins.