No lead is safe in Canadian championship
Two late away goals mean Impact has life heading into second leg
There were scuffles, a red card, goals from Canadian internationals, plus some late drama. Exactly what you’d hope for in a Canadian championship semifinal match.
The Montreal Impact lost 4-2 away to rival Toronto FC in a Voyageurs Cup match. But if you had looked at the pregame lineups, you wouldn’t be at fault predicting the score would be reversed at the final whistle. TFC was full value for the surprise victory, but two late goals by the Impact means this tie is far from over.
Here are my pros and cons from the match:
Pro: Didier Drogba scored a goal and added an assist because he never gave up the fight. Drogba clearly understood the importance of away goals in the homeand-away format. The Impact’s attack was disjointed and nonthreatening, which makes it all the more impressive that Drogba was able to deliver a cross to Michael Salazar on a platter for the rookie’s first competitive goal, in the 86th minute, before scoring an unstoppable free kick in the 91st minute. With TFC leading 4-0 after 85 minutes the tie looked all but over, but Drogba’s late heroics provided hope for the Impact ahead of the second leg on Wednesday.
Con: The Impact’s starting 11 were mostly regulars, but they were soundly beaten by a Toronto “B team” sprinkled with a few reserve-team players. Without its three high priced designated players — Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco — and also missing midfielder Will Johnson and defenders Damien Perquis and Drew Moor, Toronto simply outworked the Impact. Toronto had an impressive 10 of 13 shots on target and forced Impact goalkeeper Eric Kronberg into six saves. Those numbers tell the tale of a collectively poor defensive effort by all 11 Impact players, highlighted by the fact that the entire back four registered only three tackles, two of which were made by rookie Kyle Fisher. TFC’s Jonathan Osorio, who scored two goals, hadn’t netted one since August 2015, a span of 23 MLS games. Jordan Hamilton, 20, who has a grand total of 45 minutes of MLS experience since 2014, also bagged a brace to record his first goals for TFC in a competitive fixture.
Pro: The Impact started the match well and looked fairly comfortable even after Toronto scored its first in the 13th minute. Despite playing a man down for more than half the game, the Impact edged TFC in possession (57 per cent) and completed 471 passes compared with TFC’s 350. The Impact finished with a 77-per-cent passing accuracy ratio, compared with 69 per cent for TFC, and scored both of its attempts that were on target. TFC will revel in final score, but Impact players can take solace in the fact that despite a poor team effort, they weren’t completely dominated.
Con: All of TFC’s goals originated from set pieces. It is astounding that this continues to be such an issue for the Impact. The opening goal was the result of a quick free kick taken along the touchline, with an ensuing cross finished off by an unmarked Osorio. His second goal, in the 34th, came off a throw-in to Mo Babouli who delivered a cross that fell to the feet of Osorio to score from close range. Even more astonishing is the fact that Hamilton’s first goal, in the 60th minute, came from a sequence that started with an Impact throw deep into the defensive third by Jérémy GagnonLaparé and quickly turned into a full out attack for TFC. Amazingly, the young striker’s second goal, in the 80th minute, was from yet another throw-in deep in the Impact half, where TFC took full advantage of coach Mauro Biello’s decision to go with three in the back. The Impact has a history of not being able to consistently deal with crosses from set pieces and you can add throw-ins to the issues list.
Pro: Biello rolled the dice when he sent on striker Cameron Porter for defender GagnonLaparé in the 79th minute with TFC leading 3-0. The Impact had three strikers — Drogba, Salazar and Porter — plus Ignacio Piatti, on the field for the final 11 minutes of regulation time. And although TFC indeed capitalized on the change when Hamilton scored, the Impact benefitted by having numbers in the attack, which was a factor in the team’s two late goals. After Biello made the change, the Impact conceded one but scored two. The gamble paid off.
Con: In 114 MLS games, Impact captain Patrice Bernier has picked up 15 yellow cards and one red card. Those aren’t the numbers of a player who needs a reminder to stay out of the referee’s book, so an argument can be made that referee David Gantar should have considered Bernier’s reputation before issuing him a straight red card for his tackle on Daniel Lovitz. But Bernier’s tackle had everything that would warrant a straight red — second to the ball, two-footed lunge, exposed studs and a collision at high speed. Given that it occurred in the middle third of the pitch just moments before halftime and with the Impact down by two goals, it was an ill-advised challenge by the captain.
Pro: One thing that fans of the respective teams might note about Amway Canadian Championship matches is the drama in previous second legs. In 2013, TFC beat the Impact 2-0 at home in the first leg then lost 6-0 in the return leg in Montreal. A year later, FC Edmonton held a 2-1 first-leg advantage over the Impact, but lost 4-2 in Montreal in the return leg. Last year, the Impact took a 1-0 home-leg lead into Toronto and lost the return match 3-2, but a late Dominic Oduro header sent the Impact through on the away-goals tiebreaker.
History has shown that no lead from the first leg is safe.