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Montreal Impact 0 Toronto FC 0
The Prelude to Battle
The Amway Canadian Championship kicked off on Wednesday night with two sides going in different directions. While Toronto has struggled with a seven game losing streak since the high of becoming the first Canadian team to qualify for semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League back in March, Montreal has performed better week after week, as they have opened their first season in the MLS in a more than respectable manner.
Playing at home in the first leg, Montreal was coming off an impressive 2-0 win against Portland on Saturday and entered this fixture undefeated at home and having already handed the Reds a loss in 2012.
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Toronto FC’s greatest successes in their still short history have come in the Canadian Championship and the Reds went into this game having never lost to Montreal in the tournament. At the same time, Toronto had their reputation to defend after head coach Aron Winter's pregame comments saying his club is a better team. The 2-1 loss less than a month ago in the same building did not help their cause in that regard and Toronto supporters were certainly expecting better from their team in the rematch.
Montreal made two changes to the starting lineup from last Saturday's win against Portland. Defender Zarek Valentin and midfielder Justin Mapp picked up minor injuries and were replaced by Jeb Brovsky and Lamar Neagle respectively.
TFC were missing a component due to injury, with Designated Player Danny Koevermans still unable to return to the lineup. Toronto Head Coach Aron Winter made one change to the lineup that performed valiantly in their heartbreaking defeat to Real Salt Lake on Saturday, with Doneil Henry replacing Richard Eckersley at right back.
The Opening Forty-Five
The first half ended up being glass half empty, glass half full affair for both sides. Montreal likely took confidence from dominating the run of the play and generating all of the scoring chances, but probably felt hard done by that they did not engineer a lead from all of their quality play. Toronto generated essentially nothing from an offensive standpoint, but likely took solace that they were able to withstand the Impact’s attack and go into the half time break without conceding.
This one started out with both teams playing cautiously and likely very concerned with not wanting to concede the opening goal. Both Montreal and Toronto began the match very cautiously. Neither pushed forward or created any promising scoring chances within the first 20 minutes of play. However, as the match progressed, Montreal generated numerous extra scoring chances, as Adrian Cann, Milos Kocic and Doneil Henry played key defensive roles from TFC’s standpoint. Throughout the first and second half, the Impact kept most of the possession, finishing with 66 percent. The home-side concentrated much of their attack to the flanks and looked for crosses from both sides. Fullbacks Jeb Brovsky and Tyson Wahl frequently pushed forward and sent balls into the penalty area.
Montreal had a good chance to open their scoring account in the 25th minute when Lamar Neagle beat TFC’s high line and went in alone on Kocic, who tipped the Montreal attacker’s shot over his net.
In the 27th minute, Montreal came close again on a corner kick when Shavar Thomas’s header beat Kocic but was cleared off the line by Reggie Lambe.
Three minutes later, Neagle delivered a dangerous cross into the Toronto box that was just out of the reach Montreal forward Sanna Nyassi.
Kocic came up huge again in the 35th minute when the TFC keeper prevented a goal by tipping Bernardo Corradi’s powerful header over his crossbar.
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I would rather have someone from Amway try to sell me their products for 90 minutes than have to watch that game. #TFClive.
- @_Joe_Ross |
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The Second Half
The second half ended up being more low key than the first, as Montreal did not engineer as many scoring chances as they had in the opening half and Toronto looked even more offensively meek than they had in the first forty-five minutes.
In the 53rd minute, Impact right back Jeb Brovsky delivered an excellent cross that was professionally defended in no nonsense fashion by Adrian Cann.
At the hour mark, Aron Winter elected to bring on the offensively oriented Luis Silva, but that move did not work out as most TFC fans had likely been hoping, as the Reds reverted to an even more defensive position with essentially nine players playing defense. At that point, it was clear that Toronto was going to try and escape from Montreal with a draw.
Despite the 0-0 final score, one ball did manage to cross a goal line Sanna Nyassi found himself on the wrong side of the defensive line when he tapped-in a loose ball from around six yards out.
Toronto FC fans got a different type of scare late in the second half, when a late challenge by Collen Warner left Torsten Frings laid out on the pitch in some some discomfort. The TFC captain eventually shook off the knock and completed the match.
A Frings challenge on Sanna Nyassi gave Montreal a free kick in a decent position in the 86th minute, but Tyson Wahl’s shot sailed high over the Toronto net.
The Final Word: To be continued in Toronto
This Canadian Championship opener did not end being a classic by any stretch. If this was a boxing match, it would have gone to the Impact on points, as Montreal dominated possession, created all of the scoring chances and racked up a large number of corner kicks. However, even though the Impact were the better team on this night, this two leg series will now go back to Toronto with TFC holding the smallest of advantages in the fact that the deciding game will be played on their home pitch.
"It's pretty clear what their intentions were coming here," said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch. "I think we had some good moments in the first half that could have led to a goal but we weren't able to pull off a play."
Marsch's comment pretty much summed up the match. Toronto FC came into this match with the sole purpose of not bringing a loss back to BMO Field in the return leg.
The Reds would often find themselves defending with almost all 11 players sitting behind the ball. They did not apply much pressure, and as a result, Impact midfielders Felipe and Collen Warner were able to calmly pick out passes and send the ball out wide.
From the flanks, Montreal just kept sending balls in, without changing their plan of attack. Toronto did well to ensure they had support at the back. The extra numbers inside the penalty helped stop major chances.
In breaking down TFC’s performance, there were some positives and negatives that the Reds can take away from this game. As has been usual, Milos Kocic stood tall in the net and played a major role in the draw. Adrian Cann was excellent in leading the back line and delivering a particularly strong performance. Doneil Henry was solid playing at right back in place of Richard Eckersley. Of course, the biggest positive for Toronto was the clean sheet and the fact that this was the first time TFC did not lose since March 28th. Very importantly, the Reds were able to avoid the defensive breakdowns and mistakes that have plagued them through their seven game MLS losing streak. It wasn’t pretty but it is a result that Toronto can build on.
In terms of TFC negatives, Toronto did not create a single scoring chance, as rather than looking like Ajax, the Reds looked more a bottom of the table English side trying to avoid relegation with a draw. Aron Winter asserted before this fixture that Toronto was a better team than Montreal, but that was far from being evident in this game. TFC will clearly need to be better next week in Toronto if they want to progress to the Final.
From Montreal’s standpoint, the draw was not a disaster, but the Impact are probably feeling some regret that their dominance did not result in a victory. That said, they should be plenty confident for next week’s away leg. While Donovan Ricketts pretty much had a night off, the usual suspects lead the Impact in the three areas of the pitch. Matteo Ferrari marshalled the back line with authority and shut down any sign of trouble before it could blossom. Felipe won his share of battles in the midfield and was key in Montreal’s transition game. Up front, Bernardo Corradi was stalwart, delivering everything you could ask for from a target forward. Ultimately, this was another solid game by Montreal, who have been very consistent and effective over the last several weeks.
Toronto FC will play host to D.C. United, who just lost 5-3 to San Jose on Wednesday. Aron Winter will have to ensure Montreal stay off the scoresheet again next Wednesday at BMO Field, as a loss or draw with goals will eliminate TFC.
TFC Line-up
1 Kocic
4 Henry
12 Cann
3 Aceval
5 Morgan
23 Dunfield
6 De Guzman
22 Frings
19 Lambe
9 Johnson
8 Avila
Substitutions:
(60) Silva in for Avila; (73) Eckersley in for Lambe; (90) Emory in for Dunfield.
Montreal Impact Line-up
1 Ricketts
5 Wahl
13 Ferrari
3 Thomas
15 Brovsky
22 Arnaud
7 Felipe
18 Warner
25 Neagle
11 Nyassi
23 Corradi
Substitutions:
Substitutions: (57) Ubiparipovic in for Neagle; (82) Sebrango in for Corradi; (86) Braun in for Felipe.
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