CF Montreal led 1-0 until the very last seconds, on track to collect three points in the standings in the playoff race. But Toronto FC, in good enemy, materialized on a free kick to equalize.
Toronto FC, which languishes at the bottom of the standings and no longer has a chance of reaching the playoffs, had only one goal on Saturday night: to put a spoke in the wheels of CF Montreal, always in search of a place in the playoffs. And he succeeded.
Wilfried Nancy’s men will probably have nightmares about it. In just a few seconds, they escaped the 5e rank of the classification, to slide to 8e rank.
We already knew that Torontonians would not give CF Montreal a gift, even if they had nothing to lose. This is how a rivalry works. Several pillars of the team had even been left out by coach Javier Perez the previous match in order to be well prepared for this match.
CF Montreal found themselves bottled up in their own half for the first 25 minutes, unable to find a dent in the Toronto defense. Wilfried Nancy’s squad didn’t play like a team fighting for a playoff spot.
The locals have reached the Montreal net on several occasions, notably thanks to 21-year-old forward Jacob Shaffelburg, who has been frustrated by James Pantemis twice. Possession was even on both sides after a scoreless first half, but the Torontonians had three shots on target, compared to zero for the Montrealers.
However, they came back in force for the second half. Sunusi Ibrahim, alone in front of Quentin Westberg’s goal at 55e minute, came out the head to score the first goal of the meeting, his fourth of the season.
That’s when both teams seemed to take their game up a notch and spirits started to heat up in the cold fall. Toronto FC’s leading scorer this season, Jonathan Osorio, has gone out of his mind a few times.
At the 71e minute striker Jozy Altidore came close to equalizing with a header coming out on a corner kick from Osorio, but Pantemis stood up. The Montrealers responded immediately through Mathieu Choinière, but Westberg closed the door in turn.
Djordje Mihailovic missed a golden opportunity a few minutes later. He was unable to materialize on a nice throw-in from Joaquin Torres in the penalty area.
Toronto FC threatened again and again late in the game. CF Montreal hung on until Altidore, already insisting on the attack, received a free kick. The ball slipped into the bottom of the net, to the left of Pantemis, preventing the Montrealers from getting three points in the standings.