Toronto FC fans could be looking at an extended spell without midfield sparkplug Joao Plata. His play has been so good, he’s received the call from Ecuador national coach Reinaldo Ruedo to report to the national team ahead of three friendlies that will be played in North America.

Toronto FC has left a number of points on the table at BMO Field this season, taking just 10 of a possible 21 points from its seven home matches. No home result was a bigger giveaway, however, than Saturday's 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire. The Reds went from a comfortable 2-0 lead through 62 minutes to barely hanging on for the single point. "Around the 60th minute we thought this game was over," said TFC goalkeeper Stefan Frei. "It's just laziness. You can be confident with a 2-0 lead after the 60th minute, there's nothing wrong with that, but you can't get lazy. It's embarrassing if you're up two goals after 60 minutes and you almost end up losing. It's all about hard work and not being lazy."

With time ticking down in the first half, a long free kick was lobbed into a giant scrum of players in the penalty area. Several went to ground. But, referee Yader Reyes signalled for a penalty kick, singling out TFC defender Adrian Cann for having a hold of George John. Daniel Hernandez, who took the initial free kick, buried the penalty.

The shortest player in Major League Soccer has made a major impact. Toronto FC became the eighth separate team in eight weeks to have an MLS Player of the Week, as the North American Soccer Reporters gave the honour to Joao Plata, the Ecuadorean midfielder selected 49th in this year’s SuperDraft.

Toronto FC still has a ways to go before it perfects the attacking, pass-heavy, Total Football-esque style that Aron Winter has tried to implement in his first few months as the club's head coach. Saturday's 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo, however, is the clearest example yet that Winter's style may be starting to take hold with his team.

With a three-goal gap separating Toronto FC and FC Edmonton going into the second leg of their Nutrilite Canadian Championship tie, there wasn't much drama as to who was advancing to the tournament final. Wednesday's match therefore became a test for both sides to exorcise some recent demons and, to that end, both teams were happy with their performance in the 1-0 TFC victory.

With one tackle, FC Edmonton’s slim chance of upsetting Toronto FC in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship evaporated.

After 12 matches and still no wins against the Columbus Crew, Toronto FC's rivalry with it Trillium Cup foes is starting to resemble Wile E. Coyote's rivalry with the Roadrunner. Just when it seems the Reds might have a bit of an edge over the Crew, some unusual circumstance arises to cost TFC a victory. Case in point, the opening goal in Toronto's 1-1 draw with Columbus on Saturday. In the 41st minute, TFC midfielder Tony Tchani was the point man off a series of fine passes from Alan Gordon and Julian de Guzman, and Tchani made no mistake ,scoring his first goal of the season.

Five matches into the 2011 season and Toronto FC is still looking to find the right chemistry on the pitch. Perhaps that should not come as a complete surprise considering the club did trade away its captain and the face of the franchise after just the second match of the season. The constant changes to the lineup sure haven’t helped the cause in the short-term as management continues to preach patience to the fans and media who want the team to win now. The players can’t be feeling too secure, since coach Aron Winter has been public in his assertion that he is nowhere near finished making changes to his squad.

In a 0-0 draw with few scoring chances for either side, just about the only flash at BMO Field on Wednesday night was provided by the extra photographers on hand to catch an action shot of David Beckham. Toronto FC and the Los Angeles Galaxy each had a few attacking bursts throughout the game, but overall, both sides were lacking on offence — perhaps not surprising, given some of the personnel missing from each team's starting XI.