Montreal Impact 2 – Toronto FC 1
Despite suffering for most of the second half, the Montreal Impact held on to a 2-1 victory in the first 401 Derby of the season. This was the team's home opener and the first of two matches at Olympic Stadium.
Head coach Marco Schällibaum surprised most people by starting both Andrés Romero and Andrea Pisanu. In training throughout the week, it looked like Romero would replace Pisanu, who didn't look match fit. Ultimately, it was Sanna Nyassi who sat, while the two newcomers took to the pitch.
The Impact were hoping to dominate the match with lots of possession and an attacking style of play, but inconsistency in the midfield and problems transitioning from the back to front made it tough. Montreal still found the back of the goal twice and secured a less than impressive three points.
Alessandro Nesta's injury within the first 10 minutes, forced the Impact to reconstruct the back line. Hassoun Camara did well in his natural center back spot, while substitute Dennis Iapichino had some trouble coming in unexpectedly.
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
So he is human. After two fantastic matches on the road, Perkins had an up and down match against TFC. Perkins made one or two terrific stops throughout the afternoon, but he almost caused two goals early in the second half. Perkins's distribution of the ball was rather poor as he misplayed several goal kicks and passes that came back to him. Like all good keepers, he was able to recover.
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LB - Jeb Brovsky – 6.5 (MOTM)
He was the most consistent of all the Montreal defenders. Brovsky made a series of important challenges and recoveries throughout the 90 minutes. He played both the left and right flank and adapted perfectly. He is responsible for stopping a TFC first half chance when his sliding interception, in the six-yard-box, denied Earnshaw an easy tap in.
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CB - Alessandro Nesta – 5
He was replaced in the 12th minute after picking up an abductor injury. Nesta said he will hopefully be ready in a week or two. No official word yet from the Impact.
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CB - Matteo Ferrari – 6
The Impact were under constant pressure in the second half. Ferrari had to make many clearances and interceptions when Toronto forced their way into the box. Ferrari maybe bobbled a few balls coming his way, but was relatively solid the entire match.
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RB - Hassoun Camara – 5.5
With Nesta's injury, Camara had to shift into the middle as a center back. He took a few touches to get used to the position, but seemed anxious all game. He is a natural center back, so he and Ferrari were able to adapt without too many problems. Camara misplayed a few passes in bad areas, but usually recovered by stopping the play or getting back into proper position.
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CDM - Patrice Bernier – 6.5
He had a decent outing scoring and getting an assist. His goal came from the spot in the first half and he was the second assist on Di Vaio's goal. Bernier was busy the entire match trying to close the middle. He was pretty effective as TFC had to play wide a majority of the time. Bernier built up some Impact attacks, but he and the other midfielders failed to take control and dictate the play.
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LM - Andrea Pisanu – 5.5
After looking fatigued in last match, Pisanu worked on his fitness from the sidelines for the first couple Impact practices of this week leading up to the derby. Surprisingly he started with Romero playing opposite to him. Pisanu usually picks out the right pass or makes a good move when he has the ball, but off the ball, he is too slow to stretch the field. He's caught too often in the center when his side have possession and this forced the Impact to play down the middle or the opposite side.
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CM - Felipe – 5
We haven't seen the 2012 'Felipe' yet this season. As a center midfielder, his creativeness and freedom is limited. He still plays well. Felipe makes good passes and creates some good chances, like in the opening 15 minutes of the match. The problem is he went unnoticed for the rest of the afternoon. Missing an easy 2v1 at the end pretty much summed up his performance.
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CM - Davy Arnaud – 6
The Impact captain had a pretty good match offensively. He set up Di Vaio's goal by playing a perfect through ball behind the TFC back line. This wasn't the only time he caused problems. He combined well with Di Vaio a few minutes before, resulting in a good save from Bendik. Arnaud was always a threat with the ball.
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RM - Andrés Romero – 5.5
His debut started fine, but dwindled to average as the match progressed. In the early goings, Romero and Di Vaio linked up well almost resulting in a few early goals. Romero was also responsible for drawing the penalty. He was smart to hold off and wait for the expected contact. Even though he may or may not have gone down too easily, his move gave his side a lead out of nothing. Romero slowed down a lot in the second half.
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ST - Marco Di Vaio – 6
He looked very dangerous in the first half. Di Vaio was able to test Bendik on a number of occasions. He deservingly got a goal right before the break by making a perfect run to receive a through ball. He easily rounded Bendik and calmly hit the top corner on the open goal. Di Vaio was efficient by hitting the target on all five of his attempts on goal.
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Substitutes:
12th - Dennis Iapichino – 4.5
The Swiss defender made an unexpectedly early appearance coming on for Nesta. He played the entire match at left back. Iapichino always seemed a bit nervous with and without the ball. This showed as he lost the ball too much and caused the penalty against the Impact. It's never easy coming in a match that early, especially when you expected to be a substitute until the second half. This makes things hard mentally for the player. This could be an explanation for his nervous performance. He never settled in.
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72th - Collen Warner – 5
85th - Sanna Nyassi – 5
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