TORONTO – Who wants to win the Canadian club championship more: Toronto FC or the Montreal Impact?
It was actually hard to tell based on TFC’s 2-0 win in the first leg of their Amway Canadian Championship semifinal on a cold, wet and miserable Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 11,043 at BMO Field.
Doneil Henry and Andrew Wiedeman scored pretty goals in the second half, the lone moments of genuine quality in a pretty drab affair between the Canadian rivals.
With the win, Toronto has a big advantage in this home-and-home series as it began defence of its Canadian title. A win or draw, and even a 1-0 loss, in next Wednesday’s return leg in Montreal would see the Reds advance to the final.
The NASL’s FC Edmonton plays the Vancouver Whitecaps in the other semifinal. The two-legged final is slated for May 15 and 29.
Toronto was full value for the win, a fact conceded by Montreal coach Marco Schällibaum in the post-match press-conference. But TFC’s route to victory was abetted by an uninterested Schällibaum, who made no apologies for prioritizing his team’s MLS commitments over this tournament by leaving Marco Di Vaio, Alessandro Nesta and several other key starters back in Montreal.
“Nesta and Di Vaio can’t play today and also be fresh on Saturday (in MLS). … It’s not a reality,” Schällibaum said.
His counterpart, TFC coach Ryan Nelsen, also fielded a “B team,” but his side wanted it slightly more, although that’s not saying much considering Schällibaum’s admission.
“It was a great team performance,” Wiedeman said of the win. “It wasn’t a lot of the usual starters out there, but everyone has been working hard in training and it showed tonight.”
The dreadful display at BMO Field was a perfect match for the dreary conditions, but we shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of spectacle. With games in MLS and this competition coming up over the next few weeks, both teams made wholesale changes to their starting lineups in order to keep players fresh and rested.
Most notable for Montreal was the absence of leading scorer Di Vaio, veteran defender Nesta, captain Davy Arnaud and starting goalkeeper Troy Perkins, who didn’t even travel to Toronto. TFC gave the night off to captain Darren O’Dea, midfielder Jeremy Hall, and striker Robert Earnshaw.
Nelsen also decided to start backup goalkeeper Stefan Frei ahead of Joe Bendik. It was the first competitive action for Frei, hounded by injury problems the past few seasons, since last March.
Squad rotation was inevitable considering the heavy schedule ahead for both clubs. Still, you have to question the ethics and competitive integrity of both coaches for fielding such makeshift lineups. How can this competition grow in stature and prestige if the participating teams treat it like a chore and obligation?
Fielding strong lineups wouldn’t do the product on the pitch any harm, either. The two goals aside, Wednesday’s contest was a mishmash of errant passes, comical turnovers and sloppy possession – hardly a surprise considering the overall calibre of the players involved.
On the bright side, there was a heavy Canadian representation on the pitch, which hasn’t always been the case in past tournaments. Toronto had five Canadians in the starting lineup. Montreal had three.
The lone moment of interest in the first half came in the 18th minute when John Bostock’s curling free kick over the defensive wall forced a sharp save from Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush.
It was all TFC at the start of the second half, as they furiously pressed the Impact, who failed to clear their defensive lines. One failed clearance saw the ball make its way just outside the penalty area where Henry fired a rocket of a shot that beat a helpless Bush and gave Toronto the lead afte4 49 minutes.
Moments later, Wiedeman, Emery Welshman and Justin Braun all spurned scoring chances inside the penalty area to pad TFC’s advantage.
How badly the Impact could have use Di Vaio or Brazilian creator Felipe, who also didn’t travel to Toronto, in the final 30 minutes. Sophomore forward Andrew Wenger offered little up front, although he received little service from a pedestrian Montreal midfield.
Toronto put the game away with nine minutes left in regulation. Substitute Luis Silva played a perfect, defence-splitting pass for Wiedeman to run onto and the Toronto striker slotted it home with a cool finish.
“Luis played a perfectly weighted ball (for me). … He put a great touch on it and I had the easy part after that,” Wiedeman said.
TFC is now unbeaten in nine Canadian club championship games against the Impact, with seven wins and two draws.
NOTES: Toronto returns to MLS action on Saturday when it hosts New York. Montreal welcomes Chicago on the same day… Montreal won the inaugural Canadian championship in 2008. Toronto has won the last four Canadian tournaments, defeating Vancouver in the final the past two times. Vancouver has finished tournament runners up the past four years…. As always the tournament winner will represent Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League.
