Toronto FC defender Marco Velez scored the lone goal of the match in the 72nd minute after deflecting a 20-meter free kick from midfielder Laurent Robert.
The Impact lost one player in the 53rd minute when defender Stefano Pesoli was ejected from the game after receiving his second caution.
“We did great tonight by penetrating their defense and creating good scoring chances,” said Impact head coach Nick De Santis. “We played to win the game, even with a player down. We have to be proud of our performance and we managed well our game. Today, we can say that we can compete against an MLS team. Losing at home makes the job more difficult for the remaining of the tournament but we still have three games to play and our mentality is still good.”
“We started the game well and there was a lot of energy on the field,” said midfielder Patrick Leduc, who played all 90 minutes as defender. We did not feel that Toronto had more speed and that gave us confidence. Even though we did not have our regular line-up, we fought the whole game.”
Midfielder Leonardo Di Lorenzo was forced to leave the game in the 24th minute due to a thigh injury. A few Impact players did not play the game due to injuries: defenders Gabriel Gervais (thigh), Nevio Pizzolitto (shoulder), Cédric Joqueviel (ankle), midfielder Mauro Biello (rib), as well as forward Roberto Brown (thigh).
Impact newcomer Rocco Placentino earned two scoring chances in the first half, in the 10th and 26th minute, after firing two shots at the entrance of the box, just beside Toronto FC goal.
Toronto forward Danny Dichio also got a scoring chance, in the 40th minute, with a strong shot taken inside the box, but Impact goalkeeper Matt Jordan dove to his right to make the save.
Toronto FC goalkeeper Greg Sutton, who played for Montreal from 2001 to 2006, got the shutout, after facing 10 shots.
The Impact will play its next regular season game, Friday, against the Portland Timbers, at Saputo Stadium (7:30 pm, Radio-Canada, FSW, CKAC Sports, TEAM 990).
GAME SUMMARY
PHOTOS PÉPÉ AT SAPUTO STADIUM
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Source : Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info : 514-328-3668 (ext. 227)
