Little battles between Toronto and Seattle will decide who wins MLS Cup
TORONTO — A series of small battles will likely decide the MLS Cup final Saturday night between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders and which loyal legion of fans will watch their team hoist the Philip F. Anschutz trophy for the first time.
The disruptive work of captains Michael Bradley of Toronto and Osvaldo Alonso, along with Cristian Roldan, of Seattle in front of their backlines will be key. As will the battle of the fullbacks with Justin Morrow and Steven Beitashour for Toronto and Joevin Jones and Tyrone Mears for the Sounders.
Can Seattle’s robust centre-back pairing of Chad Marshall and Ramon Torres corral Toronto’s US$12-million strike force of Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco? Will Seattle playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro and the speedy Jordan Morris slice through the Toronto defence, as Montreal did five times in the two-legged Eastern Conference final?
Who will dominate set pieces? Toronto used them to dispatch the Impact last time out. But the Sounders are one of the better set-piece teams themselves on offence.