TFC gets leg up with some home kicking
Homegrown talent took centre stage for Toronto FC Wednesday night as the Reds beat Montreal Impact 4-2 in the first leg of their Canadian Championship semifinal.
Brampton native Jonathan Osorio came up with two first-half goals and Scarborough’s Jordan Hamilton doubled that number in the second 45 minutes, leaving Toronto with a comfortable lead going into the June 8 away leg in Montreal.
Mississauga’s Mo Babouli and Toronto’s Ashtone Morgan had assists for TFC.
“It’s very important, for not only this club but this country. It’s a good moment for us, to play so many young Canadians,” Osorio said.
Even the substitutes had a Canuck contingent; midfielder Jay Chapman is from Brampton, while midfielder Malik Johnson calls Toronto home.
Toronto coach Greg Vanney went with just four regular starters as his team looked for revenge; the Impact knocked the Reds out of contention for last year’s Voyageurs Cup in the 2015 semifinal.
The most notable absence for the Reds was injured striker Sebastian Giovinco. Defenders Drew Moor, Damien Perquis and Justin Morrow ¯ as well as midfielder Will Johnson, who is on international duty with Canada ¯also gave way, replaced by defenders Morgan, Nick Hagglund and Eriq Zavaleta, acting captain Benoit Cheyrou in midfield and Hamilton up front.
The changes Toronto made to its lineup made the Reds look like the rookie team of the two sides, especially when comparing front lines.
The Impact’s top three scorers ¯Didier Drogba, in his first trip to BMO Field, Ignacio Piatti and Dominic Oduro ¯all started the game for Montreal, while at kickoff midfielder Marky Delgado was the only player in red who had scored for Toronto this season.
But it took Osorio just13 minutes to get his team on the scoreboard.
The midfielder was so wide open at the six-yard line that he was able to take two touches off Morgan’s cross, before slotting past goalkeeper Eric Kronberg. He doubled that tally little more than 20 minutes later from a similar position.
It seemed like things couldn’t get any better for Toronto in the half, until Montreal’s veteran midfielder Patrice Bernier, another Canadian, was shown a straight red for a nasty two-footed tackle on Daniel Lovitz.
Lovitz retaliated by pushing Bernier, leading to a full-team scuffle, but Toronto’s midfielder escaped a booking from referee David Gantar.
The Impact attempted a comeback in the early minutes of the second half, but initially struggled to muster much of an attack with a man down.
Hamilton’s first goal, beating his man in the box in the 60th minute, looked to effectively end Montreal’s night. By the time he scored his second 20 minutes later, BMO Field’s south-end stand was already bounc- ing victoriously.
“My job is to score goals and that’s been a moment I’ve been dreaming about for three years now. Luckily I got to do it twice in one night, so it was just a surreal moment for me,” said Hamilton, 20, whose pair of goals were his first and second notched for the first team.
The downside of the night came in the final five minutes when the Reds’ aggregate score took a beating, with Michael Salazar and Drogba scoring late goals for Montreal.
The Impact’s strong finish to the match gave coach Mauro Biello some solace after an otherwise “unacceptable” performance.
“It gives us a boost going back home,” he said. “Now we have a series.”
Still, Toronto finished the night in full control of the tie. If everything stays as it finished Wednesday night after next week’s second leg, the championship final will be a Battle of Ontario: Ottawa beat Vancouver 2-0 in the night’s other semifinal.