East Side Stand Up

Toronto FC did the job they needed to do, which was get three points and hit Bill Manning's magic number for the first eight games of 2016. A 1-0 over DC United, while most of it was in TFC's end, showed strong defensive character as Clint Irwin had another strong outing and the defenders in front of him each played an aggressive, gritty match. The early Giovinco goal also showed some cohesion starting to form in the midfield as four players were involved in the sequence and this bodes well for two more tough away games before finally getting the home opener on May 7.