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Friday night’s match at Stade Saputo featured Club de Foot Montreal against Club de Shoot Themselves in the Foot – Toronto FC.
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It’s as if TFC is looking for new ways to lose and against Montreal they lost 3-1.
Giving up sloppy, early goals has been routine for TFC this season. On Friday night the Reds found a new way to fall behind the eight ball quickly. Five minutes into the 401 Derby match, young TFC midfielder Noble Okello was issued a red card when he spiked Montreal midfielder Victor Wanyama in the thigh kicking at a loose ball. Referee Drew Fischer issued Okello a yellow card but that was changed to red after the VAR referee Geoff Gamble ruled it a more serious infraction – knocking Toronto down to 10 men for the rest of the match. Following the red card, Montreal went right on the front foot, scoring the first goal of the match via Canadian international Samuel Piette 18 minutes later.
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“I think it was harsh,” TFC coach Javier Perez said of the red card. “I don’t like to talk about referees. I don’t think we’ve had the best refereeing this year … but I think it was a harsh red card. But I think we played well given the circumstances.”
TFC tied it 1-1 in the 58th minute on a beautiful give and go between Ifunanyachi Achara and Yeferson Soteldo, starting with Achara hitting Soteldo with a fine pass down field and then Soteldo finding Achara alone in the centre of the box and the Nigerian forward left-footing the tap-in into the goal. It was Achara’s second career MLS goal.
However, Montreal jumped ahead 2-1 in the 68th minute and never looked back. Joaquín Torres scored and then seven minutes later Romell Quioto sealed the deal for the host side when he tucked the ball past Toronto keeper Quentin Westberg into the right corner.
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TFC deserved big credit for fighting back against Montreal despite being a man down, but the Reds need wins and they’re not getting them. With the loss, an appearance in the MLS Cup playoffs is now merely a mathematical possibility for TFC, and nothing more. The victory was huge for Montreal, a club fighting to stay above the playoff line.
The win snapped a three-game Montreal home losing streak to Toronto.
TFC is winless in seven straight matches (two draws, five losses) and have lost four in a row. The Reds have just three wins in 22 matches this year and the 15 points are the fewest they’ve ever had at this stage of an MLS season, two fewer than the 17 they had collected at this stage in 2013. With 11 regular season games left, TFC is in last-place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings and would have to leap-frog over seven teams to make the playoffs.
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It ain’t going to happen, though Perez says never say never.
“We can’t rule out the playoffs,” said the coach. “But we have different tasks (now). We felt confident going into this game and I think now we have different opportunities in front of us. One is to keep trying to climb to the playoff spot. But we have the (Canadian championship) ahead of us and it’s going to come very fast and we’re going to have to build the team up for that because that’s one title we can fight for. And the younger players we cannot dismiss. These players are the future of the club and we have to keep looking at them and developing them.”
The Reds have also given up a league-most 47 goals in 22 games with a goal differential of minus 21 and have not recorded a clean sheet since May 12.
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Other than forwards Jozy Altidore (right foot surgery), Ayo Akinola (ACL surgery) and midfielder Ralph Priso (right ankle surgery), Perez had a healthy lineup at his disposal. Returning to action on Friday night was centre backs Chris Mavinga and Eriq Zavaleta, forward Dom Dwyer and winger Tsubasa Endoh.
In the end, being a man down for most of the match was a mountain TFC just couldn’t climb. Montreal fired 19 shots overall to three by Toronto. The hosts had 10 shots on target. TFC managed just two on goal.
Soteldo had a decent chance to score in the 14th minute – a good sign as the Venezuelan international did not record a shot on goal in his last two games. Soteldo has shown flashes of brilliance but has been highly inconsistent since joining the Reds last month. He’s also shown some questionable behavior at times, including Friday night when he was taken out of the match by Perez in the 78th minute and didn’t bother to give the incoming player, Dwyer, the customary acknowledgment as he headed off.
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Montreal scored in the 23rd minute off a free kick conceded just outside of the box by Reds centre back Omar Gonzalez, another TFC veteran who has struggled big time this year. Mihailovic took the shot and right-footed the ball towards the bottom right corner and Westberg made a terrific diving safe. However, Piette, shockingly left alone, rushed in for the rebound and scored, putting the home side ahead 1-0. It was the Canadian’s second career MLS goal.
Westberg made five saves in the first half, a couple of very good ones. Montreal fired 13 shots in the first half to two by TFC and held the edge in possession, 61% to 39%.
The MLS heads into an international break and the next TFC game is Sept. 11 against Cincinnati at TQL Stadium. Achara said the break should help the Reds.
“We have a lot of guys who have been playing a lot of minutes and so the break will give some of our guys a chance to take a breather and let the body rest and come back and put out everything for the rest of the season,” he said.
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