RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: CF Montréal claw back twice to eliminate Toronto FC on penalties in CanChamp
CF Montréal are headed to the Canadian Championship quarter-finals, after they defeated bitter rivals Toronto FC in a penalty shootout on Wednesday night at BMO Field, booking their ticket to the next round thanks to a pair of late equalizers and two outstanding penalty saves from Jonathan Sirois in the shootout.
Montréal will now await their opponent, which will be either Forge FC or the Halifax Wanderers, as they vie to win a sixth Voyageurs' Cup. Toronto, meanwhile, continued their early-season struggles, finding themselves out of the CanChamp in April for the first time in club history.
The match didn't quite start in TFC's favour. An early blow struck the hosts shortly before the 20-minute mark, putting a damper on a bright start. After the Reds' captain Jonathan Osorio went to ground after a challenge, Montréal's Luca Petrasso and Osorio's teammate Lazar Stefanović chased the ball after him, inadvertently catching his arm on the way. Osorio was immediately unable to continue with what looked at first glance to be a shoulder injury, so Toronto boss Robin Fraser had to turn to Spaniard Alonso Coello to fill the void in midfield.
However, the setback seemed not to faze the home side too much. Less than 10 minutes after the early change, Theo Corbeanu picked up the ball in the attacking half and decided to do it all himself; he slipped it through Montréal defender Joel Waterman's legs and drove toward the box, continuing to hold off the pursuing Waterman. Just outside the semi-circle at the top of the penalty area, Corbeanu let fly a shot that may have taken a deflection of Sam Piette's foot, but nonetheless found the back of the net to put TFC up 1-0.
The goal aside, there wasn't much in the first half, although Montréal arguably looked more dangerous at times. The visitors slightly out-possessed Toronto and outshot them nine to eight, with 41 final third entries to TFC's 21, but they didn't cause much trouble for Luka Gavran in net. Perhaps their best chance came just before halftime, when a cross came in behind TFC's backline, but Waterman's header wasn't powerful enough to beat the keeper.
It was a disjointed first 45 minutes where both teams often looked to play direct; TFC fed the ball into the wide areas for the likes of Corbeanu and Tyrese Spicer to run onto, while Lorenzo Insigne had a few bright moments in possession in the half-spaces. Toronto couldn't seem to find any red shirts in the box, however, and debutant striker Dekwon Barrow was limited to just 16 touches in the opening half -- only one of them in the 18-yard box.
Montréal, meawhile, had been able to push the ball forward in possession more frequently, and they were a bit more patient than TFC, but they also struggled to hit the target, missing the frame entirely with three of their five shots inside the box.
The visitors peppered Toronto's penalty area with crosses in the early second half as they sought an equalizer, after making two subs at halftime. forward Dante Sealy and full-back Tom Pearce came into the match, and the latter made an instant impact with three shots in his first 15 minutes on the pitch. On one occasion around the 56th minute, he drew an outstanding palm save from Gavran, as Pearce fired a well-driven shot from inside the box to nearly finish an excellent Montréal counter-attack.
Just when it appeared that Montréal were starting to tire and frustration was setting in, their magic moment arrived. With 20 minutes to play, Luca Petrasso whipped in a cross on the second phase of a corner kick, and he found an unmarked Waterman at the back post. The defender redeemed his earlier error by finishing emphatically, scoring to equalize -- briefly, at least.
TFC needed less than five minutes to push down the other direction in transition, as Corbeanu again drove possession along the touchline and beat his man. He ran into space at the edge of the box and played it across for Tyrese Spicer, who placed his shot well in the bottom right corner and restored the lead.
After that gut-punch for Montréal, the visitors continued probing for another equalizer, but as their desparation grew, so did the space behind their defence. However, after surviving some dangerous counter-attacks, Montréal again produced some magic. This time it was Pearce curling a cross to around the penalty spot, and Italian forward Giacomo Vrioni leapt to connect a fantastic aerial volley and score to make things level in the 88th minute.
We proceeded, then, to penalties. Jonathan Sirois got Montréal off on the right foot by saving Tyrese Spicer's effort on TFC's first penalty, as the visitors took a lead as Waterman scored his expertly. The two sides both scored their second and third efforts, but it was Corbeanu who took Toronto's fourth, and he slipped in his run-up, putting the ball well over the crossbar. The Reds got a lifeline, as Pearce also skied his penalty immediately after, but Ola Brynhildsen missed TFC's final spot kick and it was Montréal who claimed the spoils, eliminating their rival.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Toronto FC: Gavran; Thompson (Franklin 73'), Stefanović, Long, Gomis (Petretta 64'); Corbeanu, Osorio (Coello 21'), Flores, Insigne (Domínguez 64'), Spicer; Barrow (Brynhildsen 73')
CF Montréal: Sirois; Bugaj, Campbell, Waterman, Petrasso; Piette (Iankov 69'), Loturi, Saliba (Sealy 46'); Clark (Graham-Roache 81'), Owusu (Vrioni 57'), Synchuk (Pearce 46')
Goals
29' -- Theo Corbeanu (Toronto FC)
70' -- Joel Waterman (CF Montréal)
74' -- Tyrese Spicer (Toronto FC)
88' -- Giacomo Vrioni (CF Montréal)
Discipline
38' -- Yellow: Alonso Coello (Toronto FC)
43' -- Yellow: Victor Loturi (CF Montréal)
45+3' -- Yellow: Nicksoen Gomis (CF Montréal)
79' -- Yellow: Maxime Domínguez (Toronto FC)
Penalty Shootout
- Toronto FC: Tyrese Spicer (MISS)
CF Montréal: Joel Waterman (GOAL) - Toronto FC: Kobe Franklin (GOAL)
CF Montréal: Dante Sealy (GOAL) - Toronto FC: Alonso Coello (GOAL)
CF Montréal: Dominic Iankov (GOAL) - Toronto FC: Theo Corbeanu (MISS)
CF Montréal: Tom Pearce (MISS) - Toronto FC: Ola Brynhildsen (MISS)
Player of the Match
Joel Waterman, CF Montréal
Although he made a serious error in the build-up to Toronto's first goal, Waterman redeemed himself throughout the game, especially with his cool finish for the first equalizer. He wore the armband late in the match and showed true leadership when he stepped up to take Montréal's first penalty, scoring it with confidence.
What’s next?
Toronto FC's CanChamp campaign is now over, and CF Montréal will head into the quarter-finals, set to be played over two legs, beginning in May. They will play either Forge FC or the Halifax Wanderers, depending on which of the two CPL teams wins next week's preliminary round tie.
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