• Montreal Impact 5 (Piatti 10’, 24’, Donadel 12’, Jackson-Hamel 47’, 51’), Toronto FC 3 (Boldor OG 42’, Ricketts 77’, 79’)
• Impact snap TFC’s six-game winning streak
• Toronto loses for first time since July 1
TORONTO – Who saw this coming?
Twenty-six points separated Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact ahead of Wednesday night’s game, with the Reds comfortably sitting in first place and the Impact fighting for their playoff lives in the bottom half of the MLS standings.
Could anybody have predicted the Impact, losers of four straight, were going to get anything out of this match at BMO Field where TFC hadn’t lost in 2017?
Stranger things have happened, but not much stranger than the series of dreadful Toronto errors that paved the way for the Impact to earn a 5-3 win before 28,898 shell-shocked fans at BMO Field. Canadian forward Anthony Jackson-Hamel and Argentine star Ignacio Piatti both bagged a brace for the Impact, who snapped the Reds’ six-match win streak. Marco Donadel also scored for Montreal. Tosaint Ricketts netted two goals in a losing cause for Toronto.
In earning the victory, the Impact not only kept their faint post-season hopes alive, but they also handed the Reds their first loss at home in 16 regular-season games, a run that dated back to last October. TFC hadn’t conceded more than three goals in a match before Wednesday, and it was only the Reds’ fourth loss, its first since July 1.
“Tonight was massive. We fell into a rough spell these last couple weeks where we dropped some games at home. Tonight was important to forget about the standings and forget about the distractions, focus on the game, us versus Toronto. … We took a lead against the best team in the league and in the end we came out of here with three points in a difficult place to win,” Montreal coach Mauro Biello said.
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Toronto was missing its top two scorers and its chief playmaker, so you can’t make too much out of one bad game. The sky isn’t falling. Everybody is allowed an off day. Still, let’s not sugar-coat it, either: This was horrendous stuff from the best team in the league. The final score makes it sound much closer than it was in reality.
“Let’s not kid ourselves – the scoreline is a little bit deceiving in some ways, right?” captain Michael Bradley told reporters after the game.
Toronto coach Greg Vanney took personal responsibility for the loss, while also admitting his team’s litany of errors were simply too much to overcome.
“To give up five goals means that everybody was off on the day, including myself in setting up the team. The responsibility starts with me, but we as a group made far too many mistakes today to even give ourselves a chance,” Vanney stated.
Things turned so ugly for Toronto early in the second half that a steady stream of fans headed for the exits, serenading the Reds with a hearty chorus of boos.
“It was fair, to best honest. It was fair,” Vanney admitted. “When it wasn’t good enough, and it wasn’t tonight through long stretches, then I think it’s fair that the crowd gets a little antsy and frustrated.”
TFC was missing both of its starting forwards in Sebastian Giovinco (quad) and Jozy Altidore (lower-body injury). The dynamic pair, who’ve combined for 28 goals this campaign, also sat out the Reds’ 4-0 road win over the LA Galaxy last weekend. Influential midfielder Victor Vazquez was on the bench, as he was still dealing with a bit of a fever. As a result, Panamanian Armando Cooper earned a rare start. The other line-up change saw Steven Beitashour replace Nicolas Hasler at right wingback.
The opening half hour was easily TFC’s worst 30 minutes of the season, with a comedy of defensive gaffes leading to all three of Montreal’s goals.
A calamitous clearance by goalkeeper Alex Bono inside his six-yard box deflected off of Piatti and into the back of net to give the Impact the early lead. Two minutes later, defender Eriq Zaveleta was stripped of possession, and Donadel had all kinds of time on the ball before unleashing a swerving thunderbolt from distance that whipped past Bono at the near post. After a giveaway in midfield, Piatti made it 3-0 at the 24-minute mark, beating Bono with a shot from inside the penalty area.
Vanney went to his bench early, subbing out Zavaleta, whose defensive error preceded Bono’s botched clearance on the opening goal, for forward Ben Spencer. Canadian Jonathan Osorio danced along the end line and his shot deflected off Montreal defender Deian Boldor and through goalkeeper Evan Bush to give the Reds a lifeline just before the halftime break.
But any chance of a comeback was quashed early in the second half. Beitashour played a disastrous back pass that Jackson-Hamel latched onto and fired past Bono. It didn’t end there, as minutes later Blerim Dzemaili played Jackson-Hamel in on goal alone, and the Canadian finished off the chance with aplomb.
Ricketts scored twice in quick succession off a pair of beautiful headers to pull the Reds within two goals and give them false hope.
“You play a big game against a rival, in a lot of ways a desperate team, and we kill ourselves from the beginning. We make mistakes and play against ourselves in a way that on the night is going to make it virtually impossible to win the game. We kept at it a decent way, but ultimately when you make mistakes that we did, it’s always going to be a long night,” Bradley said.
NOTES: Toronto returns to action on Saturday with a road game vs. the New England Revolution. Montreal visits Atlanta United FC on Sunday… TFC leads the all-time regular season series against the Impact with seven wins and four draws in 16 meetings. The two sides will meet for the third and final time of the year on Oct. 15 in Toronto during the penultimate week of the regular season.
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