The three designated Toronto FC players put on a show for the home crowd Wednesday evening at BMO Field when the Reds defeated the Montreal Impact 3-1 during Rivalry Week in the MLS.
Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco all scored to help TFC rebound from a 2-0 loss to New York City FC last weekend that saw their three-game winning streak snapped.
When New York visited Toronto, Greg Vanney’s side struggled with the pace David Villa and co were playing at. The Toronto midfield failed to get momentum in their attacks and produce any chances for Giovinco as the ‘Atomic Ant’ spent the entire game isolated up top alone without Altidore who started the game on the bench.
It was a much different story Wednesday, however. Vanney made the necessary changes and it paid off, but not until going behind early.
The home side started on the front foot with several attacking plays that threatened the Impact back line, but it was Montreal who went ahead in the 19th minute. Montreal fullback Ambroise Oyongo found himself some space on the edge of the Toronto penalty box, received a pass and used a controlled finish to sneak it past TFC goalkeeper Chris Konopka at the near post.
Vanney’s men stormed back just eight minutes later, an uncharacteristic response from a side that is 2-6-1 on the season when conceding the first goal.
Giovinco opened the playing field when he went out to receive a ball on the wing, giving Bradley the opportunity to run into space in the middle. The Italian found a streaking Bradley and fed him a pass that was finished off with the first touch.
From the moment Toronto equalized, there was no doubting where the advantage laid. The duo of Altidore and Giovinco seemed unstoppable, working to it’s full potential, just the way Toronto fans envisioned it working out when both were signed.
Bradley would turn provider in the 56th minute when he sent his USA international teammate Altidore a pinpoint 50-yard pass. The forward brought the ball down with a touch and finished far post past Impact keeper Evan Bush to put his side up.
As a result, Montreal would push numbers forward in search of an equalizer. Coming into the game, Montreal sat in fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, two points behind fourth placed Toronto.
With 10 minutes remaining in the game, TFC would tack on a third to put the game out of Montreal’s reach. Bradley sent a through ball into Giovinco’s path into the Impact box and was promptly fouled. The forward made no mistake scored the ensuing penalty kick for his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
Giovinco providing on Bradley’s goal saw him set a club record with his seventh assist on the season. With 20 games still remaining in Toronto’s season, he is set to shatter the previous record.
Toronto will now host league leaders D.C. United on Saturday. The two sides met a few weeks back in Washington with Toronto coming out on top 2-1 in surprising fashion.
With the way the rest of Wednesday’s results panned out, Montreal fell to eighth in the conference. The Impact will now travel south to Philadelphia to take on the Union Saturday as they try and rebound from their latest defeat.
