Collin stays on the pitch after contentious elbow call, and SKC beats Toronto FC

With a nasty early autumn rain, traffic headaches on Lake Shore Boulevard because of road closures, and a team that’s already out of the playoff race as the main attraction, it was no surprise that BMO Field looked like a scene out of MLS, circa 1999. Empty seats outnumbered those who actually bothered to make it out on a damp Saturday afternoon. So, when the controversial moment of the match came in the 37th minute, the boos that would have rained down from a normal BMO Field crowd weren’t there. Let’s back up to the 37th minute of the match. Sporting Kansas City was up 1-0 in a game it would go on to win 2-1. SKC defender Aurelien Collin, already on a yellow, was being pursued by TFC midfielder Alvaro Rey. Collin’s elbow came up and caught Rey in the face. Referee Allen Chapman called the foul but decided, after consulting with his linesman, that no card should be issued. So, Collin stayed on the pitch and SKC was able to play out the game 11 vs. 11. The question is, was the elbow part of the cadence of Collin’s run, or did he raise it higher than normal to catch Rey in the face? That will be for the Disciplinary Committee to sort out. But, had this game meant something for TFC, had this game been played with more people in the stands, there may have been a growing conspiracy theory. A day after TFC midfielder Jonathan Osorio learns that he was suspended two games for an infraction that wasn’t penalized on the field last week in New York, Collin survived what looked to be a lock of a sending off. Even though Darel Russell scored to equalize for TFC, SKC had enough to get the winner early in the second half, as C.J. Sapong got his second goal of the game. Both of Sapong’s goals were ridiculously easy. The opening marker saw the entire TFC back line blow the task of marking two players in the area. Graham Zusi crossed the ball across the box, where it was met by a wide-open Dom Dwyer. He nodded it back to centre of the box, where Sapong was left Scot-free to finish the chance. It was as if the play happened in slow motion, it looked so easy. Dwyer, who spent part of the season on loan to Orlando City of the USL, set up Sapong, who spent part of the season on loan at Orlando City. The winner came early in the second half, as Sapong was easily able to cut in front of TFC fullback Mark Bloom to head home the winner. In two consecutive matches, Bloom — on loan from the NASL Atlanta Silverbacks — has blown coverages inside the box that have led to goals. He needs to work on his positional awareness post-haste or he’s going to find that his MLS stay won’t be long. Darel Russell scored for TFC late in the first half, a goal ironically caused by a Collin gaffe only a couple of minutes after he survived the elbow call. Collin gave the ball away at the top of the box to Rey, who slid the ball to Russell, who smartly finished the chance in the corner of the goal. Collin and Matt Besler, regarded as one of the best defensive duos in MLS, if not the best, had a nightmare in SKC’s first visit of the season, as their errors led to two Robert Earnshaw goals at Rogers Centre. Maybe it’s something in the water in Toronto, but when the vaunted SKC defenders play in Canada’s largest city, you are left wondering what all the fuss is about. They save their worst displays for Toronto. The non-call to Collin was made all the more glaring when TFC central defender Steven Caldwell was sent off late in the second half for what the referee deemed a high challenge on SKC’s Josh Gardner. And Collin’s interesting afternoon was completed when Chapman decided not to penalize him for an injury-time challenge in the box on Justin Braun. The TFC attacker went up for a ball in the area, and he and Collin collided. TFC coach Ryan Nelsen an assistant Fran O’Leary were both ejected for their assessments of Chapman’s work. So, TFC will be without their coaches, Osorio and Caldwell in its next match. “When Justin Braun’s about to hit the ball, Aurelien Collin isn’t even looking at the ball and grabs him and throws him over the end line,” Nelsen said after the match.