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Posted by
Mat Rooney,
November 22, 2016 |
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Mat Rooney
On Twitter:
@rooney_matthew
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Game one of the Eastern Conference final was just what was needed. Despite adelayed opening and turf controversy, the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC played a thrilling high-scoring game in front of more than 61,000 fans at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.
The Opening 45
After a 30 minute delay due to mispainted lines, Montreal came out strong with Dominic Oduro and Matteo Mancosu scoring a pair of goals against a messy Toronto.
Despite a great deal of set pieces and possession for Toronto, Montreal seemed to toy with their visitors killing all of Toronto's momentum in the final third and creating dangerous transitions that Toronto was barely able to deal with for much of the half.
The Second Half
All seemed lost for Toronto entering the second half and Montreal added to the hurt when Ambroise Oyongo made it 3-0. Montreal looking confident were unprepared for the arrival of Tosaint Ricketts and Will Johnson into the game.
The pair (Ricketts especially) got Toronto back into the game and quickly Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley (both of whom have had an awful week) made it 3-2.
Montreal fought back hard after that, trying to restore their massive aggregate lead but not even the entry of Didier Drogba could fix what had happened.
Despite winning, Montreal blew a massive lead and now must head to Toronto with a 1 goal lead and 2 home goals against them.
Man of the Match
Dominic Oduro
The speedy Ghanaian got Montreal rolling against his former club and had several good chances.
Tosaint Ricketts
While he might not have scored, Ricketts gave Toronto some much-needed life in the second half that might have saved the series for them.
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