TFC: Reds head into international break with loss in Montreal
Montreal is heading into the international break with three crucial points after a 3-1 win over rivals Toronto FC on Friday.
Samuel Piette, Joaquin Torres and Romell Quioto scored for Montreal (7-7-7), while Ifunanyachi Achara replied for Toronto (3-12-6).
Montreal opened the game at a breakneck pace and found its first chance just after the first minute, when Torres' shot grazed the top of the bar.
After five minutes, Toronto midfielder Noble Okello was booked after a high challenge caught Victor Wanyama in the thigh.
Following video review, the yellow card was changed to a straight red and TFC found themselves down a man with 85 minutes to play.
The rest of the half was largely one-way traffic as CF Montreal
sent wave after wave at Toronto, racking up 60 per cent of the possession in the half.
Piette found himself at pointblank range in the 22nd minute but couldn't convert after his shot was blocked.
The midfielder made up for it less than a minute later when a free kick at the edge of the box from Djordje Mihailovic was
stopped and the rebound bounced right to Piette.
With a 1-0 lead, Montreal did not let up and spent the rest of the half in Toronto's end.
Toronto came out with more fight in the second half, creating chances and pushing forward. At the 58-mnute mark, Yeferson Soteldo was played in behind and squared the ball for Achara,
who made no mistake and equalized.
With half an hour left, Bjorn Johnsen made way for Quioto, who had not seen action since suffering a hamstring injury while playing for Honduras in the Gold Cup in July.
In the 68th minute, Zachary Brault-Guillard played an inchperfect cross right to the waiting foot of Torres, who launched the ball into the top-left corner.
Less than 15 minutes after his entrance, Quioto was played in by Mihailovic and calmly placed the ball into the bottom right corner, doubling Montreal's lead.
Toronto's next opponent will be FC Cincinnati on Sept. 11, while CF Montreal faces Nashville SC the same day.