MONTREAL – Sebastian Giovinco scored a brace as the Impact suffered a 2-0 loss to Toronto FC, Saturday afternoon, in front of a sell-out crowd of 20,801 at Stade Saputo.
The difference between the two rivals in the standings is now down to one point. The Impact (4-3-0, 12 pts), who dropped a first result at home this season, now sits second in the Eastern Conference, while Toronto (3-2-2, 11 pts) jumps to third with only one game left in their road series before heading back to BMO Field.
“Toronto executed its game plan, defending and trying to counter,” said head coach Mauro Biello. “They’ve been successful that way. Credit to them. We have to learn from this game and understand that other teams are going to come here and defend low, and we’ll have to find solutions to unbalance them.”
The Reds opened the scoring in the 40th minute. Forward Jozy Altidore won a penalty kick when he was brought down in the box. Goalkeeper Evan Bush dived the right way, but Giovinco placed his attempt well enough to score. Bush hadn’t conceded in 220 minutes of play at home this season.
Giovinco clinched the three points for TFC in the 81st minute. Midfielder Will Johnson managed, before tumbling down to the ground, to reach out with his right foot and release Giovinco one-on-one with Bush. Giovinco’s left-footed strike found its home into the side netting at the far post.
“We made a couple of mistakes, and they made us pay for it,” said Evan Bush. “They played well. But we moved the ball pretty well, from side to side, in the first half. It was still a game that we were on top of, and we could have gotten something out of it.”
The Impact took possession of the ball early on but had to reorganize after Hassoun Camara went down injured in the 20th minute. Still, a fine chance fell Montreal’s way in the 23rd when Camara’s replacement, Maxim Tissot, won a free kick midway into the Toronto half. Didier Drogba, who made his first start of the season, barely missed the frame with a header on Marco Donadel’s in-swinging delivery.
Evan Bush made the save of the game in the 28th minute when Jonathan Osorio dodged an Ambroise Oyongo slide tackle and struck fiercely to Bush’s right. The Impact ‘keeper dived well and beat the ball away for a TFC corner kick.
Montreal enjoyed a fine spell a little past the hour mark, applying added pressure on the opponent, before Giovinco scored TFC’s second. Oyongo then came close to providing his team with a lifeline in the 88th minute, when he plucked a Laurent Ciman diagonal ball out of the air behind Toronto’s backline. His shot, from a narrow angle, nearly missed at the far post.
“We tried to speed things up, but they did a good job to slow the game down when they had the ball,” said midfielder Harry Shipp. “They made it hard for us, setting up in two blocks of four. We need to learn and be better going forward. We could have created more chances and been more organized, but unfortunately, we didn’t execute as we wish we would have.”
The Montreal Impact’s next home game takes place on Saturday, April 30, at 4pm EDT against the Colorado Rapids (RDS, 98,5fm &TSN Radio 690). Excellent individual tickets, as well as season tickets starting at $98 per month and Pick-4-Packs, are still available on impactmontreal.com. In the meantime, the Impact will take on New York City FC, this Wednesday, April 27, at 7pm EDT, at Yankee Stadium (RDS & TSN Radio 690).
LINEUPS
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Ambroise Oyongo, Victor Cabrera, Laurent Ciman, Hassoun Camara (Maxim Tissot 20’); M-Marco Donadel, Eric Alexander (Patrice Bernier 57’), Dominic Oduro, Ignacio Piatti, Harry Shipp (Johan Venegas 69’); F-Didier Drogba
Subs not used – GK-Eric Kronberg; D-Wandrille Lefèvre; M-Kyle Bekker; F-Michael Salazar
TOR – GK-Clint Irwin; D-Damien Perquis, Drew Moor, Justin Morrow, Steven Beitashour; M-Jonathan Osorio, Marco Delgado (Josh Williams 90’+3’), Michael Bradley, Will Johnson; F-Jozy Altidore, Sebastian Giovinco (Mo Babouli 89’)
Subs not used – GK-Alex Bono; D-Ashtone Morgan; M-Daniel Lovitz, Tsubasa Endoh; F-Eriq Zavaleta
GOALS
TOR – Giovinco (PK) 40’
TOR – Giovinco (Johnson) 81’
CAUTIONS
TOR – Morrow 27’
