Offense Isn't Always the Best Defense: Toronto FC Draw New York City FC

When you add eight goals, five cards, four penalties, three goals for Sebastian Giovinco, two goals for David Villa and a first career goal for Marky Delgado the result is one of the most bizarre games in Toronto FC history.

There are undoubtedly going to be a lot of mixed feelings about the 4-4 draw between Toronto and New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. Any time a club scores four goals it should be getting three points, and any time they concede four goals they shouldn't be getting any points at all.

From an offensive standpoint it was one of Toronto's best performances of the season. Sebastian Giovinco had three goals and an assist and cemented his place as the best player in the league.

What was most promising about this game, however, was that Giovinco capped off a team offensive effort. Daniel Lovitz drew the penalty that resulted in the first goal, Jackson played a brilliant back heel on the second, Robbie Findley played a nice cross on the third and Delgado scored the fourth.

After a game in which they were held scoreless and had very few chances against the LA Galaxy they could have easily had more than four goals against New York. Vanney's adjusted lineup widened the New York midfield and created holes with Toronto exploited.

While Giovinco wasn't quite as influential as the stat sheet suggested he was still brilliant. While he missed one penalty, he did well to convert his second opportunity. The other two goals he scored were on class finishes. His assist was brilliant as well, as all Delgado had to do was tap the ball into the back of the net.

Defensively, however, it was the complete opposite. New York really had no business scoring four goals in this match but Toronto gave them too many opportunities. They have now conceded eight goals in their last two matches, and cannot get Ashtone Morgan and Steven Caldwell back quick enough.

While it was the fullbacks, particularly on the right, which caused the problems last game it was in the middle that Toronto was weakest this time. Damien Perquis was uncharacteristically dismal, giving up one penalty and deflecting the ball into his own net shortly after the other.

Lovitz actually played a very good game at the left back position, fitting Vanney's attacking fullback role perfectly. It was when Warren Creavalle was introduced that Toronto struggled, as the controversial figure played a perfect cross to New York's Patrick Mullins to gift them a point.

In goal it may be time to give Joe Bendik a chance again as Chris Konopka struggled for the second straight game. Two of the goals were hardly his fault, one was a penalty and the second was the rebound off of a penalty he initially saved. The other two, however, he really should have stopped.

Those penalties came courtesy of referee Ted Unkel, who has been controversial around Toronto FC. But while all four penalties were a little harsh in this match, none of them were completely unfair. Even if Villa dived on the fourth one it looked like an obvious penalty in real time. Overall he called a fair game.

In the end, a point is a good result for Toronto, even if they should have had two more. It doesn't exactly send a statement to the rest of the league about what happens when you mistreat them, but it does move them up to third in the MLS eastern conference.

This is another result that distances this Toronto side from its predecessors. Whether it was scoring four goals on the road, coming back from 2-0 down or controlling large parts of the game there was a lot of things to be excited about.

Toronto will leave this match feeling a little two faced, but have to shape up quickly. Getting a win against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday is a crucial result for the success of this season.