CF Montreal has signed a “historic” victory at the expense of its rival, Toronto FC according to its head coach, Wilfried Nancy.
Despite allowing two goals in the first seven minutes of play, CFM came from behind to win 4-3 against TFC in the Canadian Classic on Sunday at BMO Field.
Thus, the men of Nancy scored a new team record for the number of points in a campaign with 52. The previous mark of 51 points was established in 2015.
The CFM also completed the sweep of their MLS series against the Torontonians as they triumphed 1-0 at Stade Saputo in July.
And, to the chagrin of the TFC, for a second consecutive year, CF Montreal finished ahead of its antagonist.
“Today the players make me very proud,” admitted Nancy. As you might expect, there is only one winner at the end of the season. I don’t know if we’re going to win anything, but what I’m sure of is that this group wrote history.
“And that’s what we want. We’re gonna do something special. »
Kamal Miller, Djordje Mihailovic and Kei Kamara scored in the first half for the Montrealers. Alistair Johnston also blackened the score sheet in the second half.
Nancy and the players had no shortage of rave reviews for everyone.
“He was the player of the game,” Johnston said of Miller, one of his defensive partners.
“When I see a guy who is 38 years old (Kei Kamara), who ran like he did to help the team… And then I see a, sorry for the term, a “little ass”, like Ismaël (Koné ), who may be 18 years old (note: he is 20 years old) who returns and strips himself for the team… I have a little thought for my Jason Di Tullio. He’s happy and he’s smiling,” Nancy said.
The late Di Tullio, former assistant coach of the CFM, has been recognized as “La Grinta” thanks to his relentlessness and determination. This combativeness served the CFM well to make the ascent.
“After the two goals, everyone took their game up a notch,” Johnston said.
“This resilience that we have shown illustrates what this group has in store. And that’s what excites veterans like me as the playoffs approach. We are never beaten before the end of the match. There is always a chance. »
With the win, CFM (16-9-4) solidified their hold on the Eastern Conference second tier. He has a five-point lead, while having a game in hand, ahead of the No. 3 New York Red Bulls.
TFC’s Italian stars (9-14-7), Lorenzo Insigne, twice, and Federico Bernardeschi, led the charge for the Ontario team.
Centre-back Rudy Camacho has regained his place in the starting 11 after being sidelined with injury in the last three games. Kamara, a leading forward, also made a comeback as a starter.
The Bleu-blanc-noir will take the lead on Friday, in Montreal, ahead of the Columbus Crew.
An emotional match
The start of this derby gave the impression that CFM’s 4-0 loss at the Canadian Championship in June in Toronto was about to happen again.
From the second minute of play, Ayo Akinola made poor control in the Montreal area and Samuel Piette came into contact with the latter, but without result. The game continued, however the referee – after consulting the video replay – decided to reconsider his decision and offer a penalty to the Queen City club.
Bernardeschi didn’t miss such an opportunity and sent Pantemis the wrong way to rattle the strings. It was his seventh goal in nine games and a fourth from a penalty.
Two minutes later, Piette was again unlucky when he headed Bernardeschi’s cross in the direction of Insigne. The European champion made a nice volley and beat Montreal goalkeeper James Pantemis.
Insigne has hit the mark in five of his last seven games.
The CFM had not yet abdicated, however.
In the 19th minute, Miller made an attacking breakthrough before handing the ball to Kamara who unsheathed on the spot. If goalkeeper Alex Bono parried the ball, Miller, in turn, flew to succeed with a volley that found the back of the net.
Like the Torontonians, the Montrealers only needed two minutes to score again.
Mihailovic went there with a hard shot from outside the penalty area to level the score. Bono touched the leather, but wasn’t able to push it back enough.
“It’s not the kind of shot you see often,” Johnston said. He made that kind of shot in the warm-up and was told to save them for the game. »
A few minutes after his second goal, Victor Wanyama had a golden chance to give CFM the lead. Although Bono had abandoned his cage, the Kenyan’s header went above the horizontal bar.
If Kamara’s net in the 34th minute was disallowed due to a foul by Romell Quioto, he recovered just before stoppage time.
A long throw-in from Joel Waterman sent Kamara into a duel with Chris Mavinga. The CFM player beat his cover and then surprised the opposing goalkeeper between the legs.
CFM retired for the locker room with their first lead of the game.
Quioto, who missed a chance early in the second half, rebounded well and prompted the fourth goal for his team. His cross at the far post allowed Kamara to take the Toronto defense on the wrong foot and hand the ball to Johnston, who drove the final nail in the TFC coffin.
After 54 minutes of play, the Bleu-blanc-noir was leading 4-2. He then dictated the pace for what followed.
As the outcome of the match was sealed, a confusion between Camacho and Piette opened the door for TFC. In stoppage time, Insigne lobbed the ball over Pantemis and cut CFM’s lead in half.