Welcome to Counter Attack, Sportsnet’s Monday column that recaps the weekend and previews the week ahead for the three Canadian teams in Major League Soccer.
Three weeks into the campaign and the Montreal Impact are still looking for their first goal.
The Impact earned a draw away to New England on the weekend, and while coach Frank Klopas will be happy with the clean sheet, he has to be more than a little concerned that his side has yet to score in MLS.
The Whitecaps were less than impressive against Orlando —they were defensively well-organized but offered very little going forward. However, Carl Robinson’s men kept things close before nicking an injury time winner.
Toronto had the weekend off, allowing them to rest up for a tough road game against Real Salt Lake. The good news for the Reds is that Sebastian Giovinco will be available (he was overlooked by Italian manager Antonio Conte for the Azzurri’s Euro 2016 qualifier vs Bulgaria). The bad news is they’ll be missing Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore (more on that later).
Records
• Montreal Impact: 0-1-1, 1 point (8th in Eastern Conference)
• Toronto FC: 1-1-0, 3 points (5th in Eastern Conference)
• Vancouver Whitecaps: 2-1-0, 6 points (3rd in Western Conference)
What happened?
• New England 0, Montreal 0
• Orlando 0, Vancouver 1
Rivero’s late winner burns Orlando
What did we learn?
Rivero looks to be the real deal: With one goal in each of his first three games for the Whitecaps, Uruguayan forward Octavio Rivero is an early candidate for the MLS newcomer of the year award.
Rivero’s timing on Saturday was impeccable, heading home a Pedro Morales free kick in the dying seconds to allow Vancouver to steal three points in Orlando. His hold up and link-up play was also excellent, and his movement off the ball, like in the first two games of the season, caused plenty of problems for opposing defenders.
Impact not the same without Piatti: Midfield creator Ignacio Piatti missed Saturday’s game for Montreal, as he returned home to Argentina for personal reasons.
His absence in the Impact line-up in New England was obvious to see, as Montreal struggled to create in midfield and managed just two shots on target. The Impact’s attack sputtered and was completely bereft of ideas at times. Montreal looked a completely different team without the Argentine pulling the creative strings in midfield.
Upcoming schedule
• Montreal vs Orlando (Saturday, 4pm ET)
• Vancouver vs Portland (Saturday, 8pm ET)
• Real Salt Lake vs Toronto (Sunday, 7pm ET)
Watch MLS on Sportsnet: Watch 11 Toronto FC matches live on Sportsnet this season, starting with Real Salt Lake vs TFC on March 29. Consult our broadcast schedule by clicking CLICK HERE.
Stories to follow
Key absences for TFC: Two of Toronto FC’s most important players won’t be in the line-up for the Reds’ next match. Captain Michael Bradley and forward Jozy Altidore have been called up by the U.S. national team, ruling them out of TFC’s road game against Real Salt Lake on March 29.
The TFC pair was included in U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s 23-man roster for a pair of friendlies on March 25 vs Denmark and March 31 vs Switzerland.
Sources close to the U.S. national team told Sportsnet that Bradley and Altidore will remain with the U.S. team for the duration of the camp, and won’t be allowed to come home after the Denmark contest in time to play in Utah.
The loss of two designated players is a big blow for a Toronto side that will already be missing left fullback Justin Morrow through suspension for the Real Salt Lake game. TFC appealed the red card he picked up in the loss to Columbus, but the league has yet to make a decision. Defender Steven Caldwell is also questionable for the Salt Lake match because of injury.
Manneh suspension looming?: Whitecaps forward Kekuta Manneh challenged Aurelien Collin for a 50-50 ball on Saturday, lunging into a two-footed tackle that could have caused a serious injury to the Orlando defender. Lucky for Manneh—and Collin—that there was little physical contact, and the Whitecaps youngster was only given a yellow card on the play.
In all honestly, Manneh should have seen red for his reckless and rash tackle, and it’ll be interesting to see if the league reviews the play and ends up handing him a suspension.
Porter injury update: Already dealing with the absence of influential winger Justin Mapp (out four months with an elbow injury), the Impact suffered another blow when rookie forward Cameron Porter landed awkwardly in the 18th and was carried off on a stretcher in Saturday’s game vs New England.
The Impact have yet to officially confirm the severity of the injury, but the fear is that Porter tore ligaments in his left knee, which would rule him out for the rest of the season. Porter has been a bit of revelation so far with his work ethic, touch on the ball and ability to hold up the play.
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed,” coach Frank Klopas said after the game. “I don’t want to speculate. Hopefully we can get some good news when we get back to Montreal and he’s seen by the doctors.”
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