Montréal Impact reach Canadian Championship final despite defeat at Toronto FC
TORONTO — It was almost everything Toronto FC fans have been hoping for this season.
On Wednesday night TFC delivered a home win against the team's biggest rival, powered by stellar performances by all three Designated Players, and lots of goals.
Yet it felt like a loss, because the 3-2 victory at BMO Field over the Montreal Impact in the second leg of the 2015 Amway Canadian Championship meant that the visiting side claimed the two-legged series by virtue of the away goals tiebreaker.
It almost seemed like a waste of a trio of great perfrmances by the highest paid players on the field: TFC captain Michael Bradley, striker Jozy Altidore, and diminutive attacker Sebastian Giovinco.
"I thought they got into great spots," Toronto head coach Greg Vanney said of Altidore and Giovinco after the match. "I think they created a lot of problems. They were able to receive balls and run at the back line.
"I think they'll still continue to progress in reading each other on some of those final runs and final passes and when they do that they'll create even more chances."
Contributing a goal and assisting on TFC's other two, Altidore put on an attacking clinic for the 21,069 fans inside the stadium. Bradley shook off a poor performance on the weekend by dominating the central midfield in a more advanced role, and Giovinco especially — in the second half— made the crowd buzz with a series of individual runs that made Montreal's defenders seem like they were standing still at times.
The display by TFC's Big Three even drew praise from Impact head coach Frank Klopas.
"When you give Giovinco opportunities in the open field he's very dangerous," Klopas said. "Michael, what can I say? He's a two-way player, he's fantastic. One of the best in the league. And then Altidore is a handful."
And yet despite getting full value from the headliners, it was another late defensive breakdown that doomed Toronto in the end. Leading 3-1 with just six minutes left in regulation, TFC's backline allowed former Red Dominic Oduro to find some space at the back post and nod home a floated cross from Eric Miller.
It put the series on ice as all Montreal needed to advance at that point was a one-goal loss.
"We had to make some drastic changes to get the goal, we pushed it, the game became wide open and then it was who can make some plays," Klopas explained. "Then it’s a little risky because they have a lot of quality in the final third, but we scored that second goal that we needed."
"I think we could have handled the end of the game a little better but it was good to move onto the final."
And while TFC exits the Voyageus Cup competition at its first hurdle, Klopas insisted that Toronto, currently 3-0-5 in the league, will be a playoff team when the MLS regular season wraps up in the fall.
"Regardless of the start I know that they're a team for sure that's going to be there in the end," Klopas said.
