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Posted by
Steve Bottjer,
October 29, 2015 |
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Steve Bottjer
On Twitter:
@BottjerRNO
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Only several days after completing the regular season against the Impact, Toronto FC were back in action on Thursday for the club’s first ever MLS playoff game. With Toronto have fallen to 6th place on Sunday, there was plenty at stake for the Reds in a match that was going define their season as either a success or just another in a long line of failures.
With the Reds facing a hostile away environment in Montreal and with the team having looked flat in their previous fixture against their playoff opponent, TFC Head Coach Greg Vanney elected to go with the exact same lineup that failed miserably four days ago.
Listen to ESSU:
At last Toronto FC finish 6th
Toronto vs Montreal Impact
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The Opening 45
The Montreal Impact and Toronto FC picked off right where they left off in the second half of Sunday’s regular season ending fixture, with the Impact on Fire and the Reds looking completely flat.
Impact attacking midfielder Ignacio Piatti was dominant force for the entirety of the half, as made Toronto’s back line look like chickens with their heads cut off. On the other side of that equation, Toronto FC right back Jackson looked like a player primed to deliver a brutal performance just when the Reds needed all of the players to raise their game to another level.
Montreal Impact opened the scoring via some shoddy defending on a counter attack, with Piatti making a great pass to send Patrice Bernier in alone on Toronto keeper Chris Konopka. The classy Impact captain then delivered a clinical finish to get the home team on the board.
The Impact doubled their lead in the 33rd minute when a slack pass by Ahmed Kantari and a slip by Josh Williams resulted in a gift for Piatti, with the Impact attacker making no mistake in beating a helpless Konopka.
Montreal essentially sealed the victory in the 39th minute when a TFC defense in disarray allowed Bernier to deliver a chip cross to the far post to an unmarked Didier Drogba, with the former Chelsea great scoring on a tap in.
The Second Half
Montreal took their foot off the pedal and went into cruise control in the second half.
Toronto also showed some life after the half time break, but not enough to significantly trouble Evan Bush and the Impact back line.
With Toronto down by three goals, TFC Head Coach Greg Vanney showed an innovative approach in bringing on defender Eriq Zavaleta as his first substitute. The Reds gaffer then followed up that approach by taking off the attacking midfielder who had shown a tiny bit offensive life in Osorio as his second substitution.
With Toronto’s second half substitutions not resulting in an offensive onslaught, it was the Impact that came closest to a second half goal when Piatti hammered a shot from distance off the post in the 79th minute.
With the embarrassing defeat, Toronto FC ended their 2015 campaign in the type of manner that almost completely negated any of the positives from a regular season in which Sebastian Giovinco provided Reds supporters with genuine joy. As an organization, Toronto FC will have to balance whether or not the club will be served better by stability versus whether Vanney should be relieved of his duties given the pathetic manner in which his club performed in the biggest match in team history.
Designated Players Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore need to look in the mirror as well, as neither high priced talent even showed up for this game. Bradley’s reputation as a leader must also be questioned after this debacle.
Man of the Match
Herculez Gomez
Herculez Gomez wins Man of the Match for Toronto FC by virtue of the fact that he played the fewest minutes and was in the game for the smallest percentage of a truly embarrassing performance by Toronto.
With respect to the men in blue, Montreal’s best and most experienced players all stepped up in a way that Toronto’s did not. Patrice Bernier, Ignacio Piatti, Laurent Ciman and Didier Drogab all delivered herculean performances for the winning team, as the Impact cruised to a fully deserved victory.
Toronto FC Line-up
1 Chris Konopka
2 Justin Morrow
4 Ahmed Kantari
23 Josh Williams
11 Jackson
21 Jonathan Osorio
8 Benoit Cheyrou
4 Michael Bradley
17 Jozy Altidore
55 Robbie Findley
10 Sebastian Giovinco
Substitutions: Eriq Zavaleta for Ahmed Kantari (46’); Marky Delgado for Jonathan Osorio (70’); Herculez Gomez for Robbie Findley (72’).
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