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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Toronto FC too much for Red Bulls

Pablo Vitti and Dwayne De Rosario scored as Toronto FC blanked the New York Bulls 2-0 in front of 20,902 raucous fans at BMO Field on Wednesday night.

It marked Toronto's second win in less than two weeks over the Red Bulls, who remain winless on the road in 21 straight matches (0-15-6) вЂ" an MLS record.

Toronto FC prevailed 2-1 over New York on June 13.

Toronto FC was fresh off their finest offensive outing in franchise history, a 6-1 romp over the Montreal Impact that clinched the Voyageurs Cup for the Reds and the right to represent Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Prior to that, Toronto FC had never scored more than four goals in a match.

Vitti, a flamboyant forward from Argentina, opened the scoring 28 minutes into Wednesday's match.

Toronto FC midfielder Nana Attakora chipped the ball neatly over a startled Red Bulls defence with the outside of his right foot to Vitti, who settled it and nodded it over keeper Danny Cepero for his first goal of the season.

Vitti narrowly missed making it 2-0 as he snuck between two defenders and slipped a rebound between Cepero's legs, only to watch the ball dribble wide of the post.

Moments later, De Rosario spun in the box and unleashed a shot that was blocked at the goal-line by defender Andrew Boyens, formerly of Toronto FC.

Toronto FC appeared to strike again in the 52nd minute when forward Chad Barrett tucked De Rosario's centring pass inside the post, but the play was ruled to be offside.

Seven minutes later, De Rosario took Barrett's looping cross off his chest and lofted it over Cepero for his fifth goal of the campaign.

Amado Guevara and Adrian Serioux started for Toronto FC, despite being hobbled by tender ankles.

Serioux received a yellow card after getting into a shoving match with Red Bulls forward Dane Richards in the 78th minute.

With files from The Canadian Press