Toronto FC 0 – 0 Montreal Impact

The Impact played their last road match of the season when they visited Toronto on Saturday. This was the last Montreal-Toronto derby fixture of 2012. With no playoff football to play for, only bragging rights were on the line.

Going in to this match, the league-series was split a one win a piece. With the Canadian Championship taken into account, Toronto FC takes the season series. In the five times these two sides have met, TFC won twice, drew twice and lost once. It gets better for TFC fans. The Reds have kept four clean-sheets in a row against Montreal.

Montreal only made one change to their starting XI since last match against the Dynamo. Collen Warner returned from serving his ban for an accumulation of yellow cards. Alessandro Nesta was left on the bench and did not make an appearance. A key member missing in this match was Felipe who underwent surgery early in the week to fix a sports hernia. Another key absence was head coach Jesse Marsch. He was ejected in the Houston game and had to serve a touchline ban.

The Impact played with a 4-4-2 formation. Andrew Wenger and Marco Di Vaio partnered once again up-front. The midfield from left to right featured Sanna Nyassi, Calum Mallace, Patrice Bernier and Warner. The back line consisted of Jeb Brovsky, Matteo Ferrari, Hassoun Camara and Davy Arnaud. Troy Perkins got the expected start in goal. The two surprises in this lineup were Warner playing as a right midfielder and Davy Arnaud as a right back.

The key to the ratings, as seems to be the logic on a scale of 1-10, is not to view it as a “grade”, as in a 6 would be a 60 or a C. The formula is that each player begins the game with a 5 and is the equilibrium from which their performance either improves or degrades moving in increments of .5.

Here is the breakdown of the starting XI:

GK - Troy Perkins - 5.5
Toronto tested the Montreal keeper with seven shots on goal. Fortunately for him, none were menacing. Perkins looked calm and in-control throughout the entire 90 minutes. He made his routine stops and was sharp by rushing out to challenge on-rushing TFC attacks.

LB - Jeb Brovsky - 5.5
Brovsky was fine in this match. He and the rest of the Impact backline stayed organized and never caused any major slip-up. Brovsky ended up leading the team with 45 completed passes. At the other end of the scale, he also lost possession the most times.

MOTM - CB - Matteo Ferrari - 6.5
Ferrari put in a great performance. Without Nesta in the lineup, Ferrari was the leader of the back line. Ferrari saw the play well and was properly positioned. He made some terrific sliding tackles which ended TFC chance's of going for goal. Ferrari has played in every minute of the last nine Montreal matches.

CB - Hassoun Camara - 6.5
Camara was equally impressive as his center back partner. The Frenchman played aggressively and was fearless when going for the ball. Most times we won the battle, but sometimes he lost and even picked up a booking. Playing for last year's NASL club, Camara has been easily able to adapt to the MLS style of play.

RB - Davy Arnaud - 5.5
It was unexpected to Arnaud playing as a right back in this match. The habitual right midfielder filled in for the missing Nesta in the back line. Montreal included six defenders in their 18-man gameday roster, but only started three in the match. Arnaud did fairly well as a defender. He's already filled in the position a couple times throughout the season.

LM - Sanna Nyassi - 6
Nyassi was threatening all night. His high-level of energy gave his side an extra push when attacking. Things seemed to have worked for the Gambian in Toronto. Nyassi was confident in his dribbling abilities and he also became a playmaker more than once by threading through balls to his strikers. He created some chances, but none worthy of a good scoring opportunity.

CM - Calum Mallace - 5
This was his second straight start and third of the season. Against Houston, Mallace adapted well playing with Bernier. He was given the chance yet again to prove his worth, this time against rivals TFC. Mallace seemed confident when he had the ball and his feet. He played without taking risks and played many negative balls to keep possession. He was substituted in the 64th minute for Justin Mapp.

CM -Patrice Bernier - 5
Bernier did not stand out much in this match, although he was by no-means poor. Playing with a rookie as a center midfield partner, Bernier could not afford to take many risks. He played safe and ensured the middle was not taken over by TFC.

RM - Collen Warner - 6
Warner adapted well to playing on the right flank. He seemed focused and involved on both sides of the pitch. On offense Warner stuck to his flank and made some good runs to get open. Warner, a natural central midfielder, made some good and accurate passes all throughout the match.

ST - Marco Di Vaio - 5.5
The Italian striker was on-and-off in this match. He was never in dangerous enough spot to score a goal or threaten the TFC net. Out of every Impact player, Di Vaio only seems to be able to connect with Felipe. With Felipe's absence, Montreal opted to use a second striker, Wenger. Di Vaio and Wenger have been training together recently in training to build chemistry, but it was still evidently lacking.

ST - Andrew Wenger - 6
He had the best goal scoring opportunities. Wenger was very close to scoring on two major chances. The rookie says he's been learning a lot from Di Vaio. The duo is slowly trying to synchronize their playing styles. For a first year player, who only started playing striker recently, Wenger shows that he has what it takes. He is good for being in the right position and timing his runs into the box.

Substitutes:

64th - Justin Mapp - 4.5
71st - Lamar Neagle - 5
87th - Dennis Iapichino - 5