TFC win first leg of championship semifinal
OTTAWA — Toronto FC is right where they want to be after the opening leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal.
Jonathan Osorio scored in the fifth minute as Toronto downed the Ottawa Fury 1-0 on the road in the first leg on Wednesday.
Toronto claimed an important road goal in the opening match, and will host the second leg at BMO Field July 25.
“For us, we met our objective for the night. Tonight we got the shutout, we got the away goal so we’re leaving pleased,” said TFC head coach Greg Vanney.
“We set ourselves up with the position to try and finish the series at home next week.”
The game was delayed for a couple of minutes late in the second half when TFC supporters set off flares and smokes bombs that led to fires in the stands — with one making its way on the pitch before quickly being extinguished by stadium security. Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group issued a statement following the match saying, “No fans were injured in the incident and the perpetrators were ejected from the building.”
“All members of the visiting supporters group had been subjected to bag checks and security scans prior to entering the stadium and no fireworks or other devices were detected ... Ottawa Police have launched an investigation into the incident,” the statement said.
Vanney apologized on behalf of TFC in his post-match media scrum.
“On behalf of the club we are embarrassed about the incident in the stands and, obviously, it will be looked at by the match commissioner and they will handle it appropriately,” said Vanney.
“From the perspective of the team side it turned into an embarrassing scene, so we apologize from our side.”
Toronto FC left several of their starters at home on Wednesday, including midfielders Michael Bradley and Victor Vazquez, defender Gregory van der Wiel and Italian forward Sebastian Giovinco.
TFC won the Voyageur Cup in 2017, defeating the Fury in the semifinals. Following a 2-1 road loss in the first leg, Toronto FC were 4-0 winners on their home pitch in the second leg.
They then defeated the Montreal Impact 3-2 on aggregate.
It was their second straight Canadian Championship, giving them a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League earlier this year. They advanced to the final of that event but fell to Mexico’s C.D. Guadalajara 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the two legs were tied 3-3 on aggregate.