“We were second best the first 20 minutes,” said captain Patrice Bernier. “We played with fire. It’s uncharacteristic of our team. Normally, we’re very hard to play against and today, we seemed to be spread out and not be the same team from the last few games.”

“We worked throughout the week to prepare the team as a staff and today it was my job to be on the sideline to encourage the team and to manage the rhythm,” Biello said to open his postgame comments. “Obviously we would have loved to win the game but, unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Overall I think there were a lot of positives from that game.”

The Vancouver Whitecaps might not have had their captain, but they got a skipper’s performance from his stand in, as Kenny Miller bagged the winner as the home side defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1 in front of 18,078 at BC Place.

Renteria was left wide open in the penalty area to direct Higuain's cross over Impact keeper Troy Perkins in the 92nd minute. And Higuain was given acres of space down the left side in which to engineer a cross, as veteran Alessandro Nesta inexplicably decided to lay off rather than take away the Argentine's space on the wing. It

But, for 60 minutes of Wednesday’s 2-1 loss in Columbus, TFC looked like a team that was going through the motions, even though coach Paul Mariner handed keeper Freddy Hall his MLS debut and centre back Dicoy Williams his first MLS start of the season.

“The guys deserve all the credit tonight because on the field they dug in and wouldn’t let this one slip and we got a desperate three points,” said head coach Jesse Marsch.

It is generally considered that an official has done his job if, at the end of the game, spectators are still in the dark as to his identity.