FT: Toronto FC 1-2 CF Montréal – Game thread, preview, how to watch
Live Thread
FT – Toronto FC 1-2 CF Montréal
80′ – A double substitution for TFC: Ayo Akinola and Kosi Thompson in for C.J. Sapong and Sigurd Rosted. Rosted walked straight into the tunnel… Could be another possible injury concern for the Reds.
71′ – A deflected shot by a Montréal attacker ends up in Johnson’s gloves.
59′ – Deandre Kerr checks into the match for Kobe Franklin.
47′ – Sean Johnson called into action early in the second half. He makes the save on a Lassi Lappalainen shot.
HT – Toronto FC 1-2 CF Montréal
44′ – GOAL TORONTO FC. A Richie Laryea pass to the centre of the six-yard box reached Lorenzo Insigne, his job to finish the play was simple.
39′ – GOAL MONTREAL. Offor heads the ball home, Choinière provides the assist with a pinpoint cross.
35′ – GOAL MONTREAL. Zachary Brault-Guillard pokes home the rebound after an initial save from Sean Johnson.
33′ – Richie Laryea wins a free kick for his side in a dangerous area.
21′ – Alonso Coello is forced off due to injury, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty replaces him.
14′ – Good play from Federico Bernardeschi driving forward. His through ball found Brandon Servania, his low shot was parried away by Sirois.
9′ – A shot from Mark-Anthony Kaye fails to test Montréal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
1′ – An early shot from midfielder Mathieu Choinière goes high and wide of the net.
1′ – And we are underway!
6:45 pm ET – Don’t forget to take part in our prediction league tonight!
6:10 pm ET – It’s the first edition of the 401 Derby this season, with a spot in the Canadian Championship semi-final up for grabs. When Toronto FC met CF Montréal in last year’s edition of the tournament, the Reds defeated the side from Québec 4-0 to advance to the final.
Starting XI’s
Head coach Bob Bradley makes one change to the starting XI after Saturday’s 2-0 loss against the New England Revolution. Aimé Mabika starts his first match for the club in place Shane O’Neill who misses out due to injury.
The men from Montréal have won four MLS matches in a row, they come into this rivalry game in very good form. Nigerian Chinonso Offor and Honduran Romell Quioto will lead the line up top.
Match Preview, by Aasim Hashim
Toronto FC and CF Montréal will face off twice over the course of this week. On Tuesday night, TFC will host Montréal with a spot in the Canadian Championship semi-final on the line. Four days later, Montreal will host Toronto in MLS league play.
Beyond just bragging rights, wins in both matches this week will go a long way in helping to give the rest of the season a positive outlook.
Toronto FC
Previous Round: Bye
This will be the Reds’ first appearance in the 2023 Canadian Championship as the club received a bye to the quarter-final stage after reaching last year’s final. TFC lost to the Vancouver Whitecaps on penalties in the 2022 showpiece at BC Place.
What looked to be a promising start for Bob Bradley’s squad has quickly turned into something of a nightmare. After picking up points in seven matches on the bounce, the Reds have picked up one win in three matches. While on its own, recent results may be satisfactory, the manner in which TFC have lost their matches. A 4-2 loss in Philadelphia and a 2-0 loss against the New England Revolution is a cause for concern.
The Reds have looked listless and have struggled offensively all season. Based on current form, the importance of Tuesday night’s Canadian Championship tie looms large for Bradley. It presents Toronto’s best, and realistically only, chance at silverware this season, despite the addition of the Leagues Cup.
To add to the team’s struggles, Bradley will be short-handed and will have some tough decisions to make ahead of Tuesday night.
Beyond just bragging rights, wins in both matches this week will go a long way in helping to give the rest of the season a positive outlook.
CF Montréal
Previous Round: 2-0 victory vs Vaughan SC
On the flip side, CF Montréal have stabilized since a disastrous start to the campaign. CFMTL started their season with just one win in their first seven matches and failed to score a single goal in all but one match – their only win (a 3-2 victory against the Philadelphia Union).
Since that horrific run, the Québec-based side have been able to completely reverse the script and it’s a run that started in the previous round of the Canadian Championship.
Montréal advanced to the current stage of the competition thanks to a 2-0 win over Vaughan SC in the Preliminary Round. CFMTL have parlayed the success of the previous round to win three MLS matches in a row and have done so in similar fashion that has seen the club collect three consecutive clean sheets and winning by a score of 2-0.
Recent History
Given the importance of this rivalry, it’s unsurprising that Toronto FC and CF Montréal clashes almost always live up to the hype. Toronto leads the all-time matchup with 21 wins, while Montréal has won this matchup 19 times.
The two clubs played each other in last year’s Canadian championship semi-final, with the Reds advancing thanks to a 4-0 victory on the night.
Match Details
Opponent: CF Montréal
Kickoff time: 7 pm ET
Watch: OneSoccer
Stadium: BMO Field, Toronto, Ont.
A must win bob has to go if there is anything but a win today. End of story.
“On the flip side, CF Montréal have stabilized since a disastrous start to the campaign. CFMTL started their season with just one win in their first seven matches…”
If 1 win in 7 is a disaster, then what do we call 2 wins in 11?
Judging by the staring lineup, it looks like Bradley is going for this one!
This team is a joke. They’re trying to play out of the back as if they were Barcelona lol… and they can’t even pass straight. You’d think that coach Dad would change something, but nope… stick to 4-3-3 and a cheap shit attempt at possession soccer. It’s naive and lazy. Bradley is an amateur.
#FireBradley
Nice goal (I’ve been saying we need Marshall rutty in the midfield since last year but bob is a slower than slow) anyhow other than that terrible. Kaye isn’t good again , rosted looks lost without hedges, insigne trying to do way too much, he does need support quicker…once again a team outside of a very well taken goal looks completely lost. Fire bob if we lose.
Start gassing up Tanenbaum’s jet and find out what’s the closest airport Tata Martino can get to.
Bob just put rutty back on fullback after him in the midfield created the first goal. Absolute horrendous excuse for a coach
Sapong doesn’t even get a shot off on that chance, oh my goodness man.
So Montreal a team that sold or traded all their good players beat us at home…insigne never looked worse than today berna not much better yet we aren’t gonna fire this moron coach our dps are regressing under this guy. Too many bad passes too many easy goals against too much room in the middle…what is it gonna take to fire this complete moron. Do we have to wait till the leafs go out do we have to lose again Saturday against this rebuilding side…like what is it gonna take for MLSE to realize a change in leadership is needed right now
I’m not even joking, I think Chris Armas could get more out of this team than Bob. At least with Armas there was a coherent idea of what was to be done on and off the ball.
Bob on the other hand, I genuinely have no fucking idea what he’s trying to get this team to do. The guy has one plan and when that doesn’t work, which happens most of the time, there’s no adjustment, no change. I don’t get how he can sit there, watch them do nothing with the ball, week after week, and never adjust anything. Does he have that much faith in his game plan? Or does he have no other ideas?
There is absolutely no transition from defence to midfield to attack when in possession. Think of how much time has been completely wasted with the ball going from the centre back, to the left back, to the centre back, back to the left back, to the dm back to centre back…over and over again.
If the other team presses like Philly, it’s over. If they sit back like Montreal, TFC can’t do anything with the ball. This team is DEAD.
Mr. Bob Bradley, thank you very much for your effort. See you not soon.
I have now boarded the Bradley out train.
Waiting till the 80th minute to make subs when this team needed a spark much earlier!?
Trying to still play a 433 with that lineup!?
No real improvement in team structure and identity.
I understand all the injuries play a big part in the results, but these losses are unacceptable with the lack of urgency and desire that has been shown by most of this squad.
The 4 3 3 is his stubbornness, that I was eluding to when we hired him (one of the many reasons I despised this hire) he still think he’s the smartest guy in the room and won’t change no matter how bad it gets. The worst thing to come out of this loss is that our dps looked bad…I watch alot of serie a and mls and I have never seen berna and insigne as bad as today. Plain and simple bob is ruining this team.
It is so incredibly sad to see what is happening now. Fans fighting visitors, fans fighting players, players dropping injured, veterans playing terribly. Fans turning their backs on the whole group.
Bob doesn’t have to accept he is responsible for this, but if he can’t fix it with his position and authority then clearly he has to accept he is not up to the job.
MLSE loves to sign lengthy contracts with older individuals that had modest success somewhere in the past. But why can’t they also love to win, or love to entertain since that is the business? If it was actually Manning that chose, and forced, Insigne on the squad then it’s Manning that should be protecting that asset as it degrades and falls out of favour with fans.
Every MLS team has now circled the Toronto game on the schedule as a 3 pointer AND a chance to play depth pieces. That’s not the kind of help fans want them offering to the league.
You know what the saddest part is Coach? With the contracts that Bob has has handed out, this club doesn’t have many options to get out of this mess, who will take any of these players in a trade for what we are paying them.
Jack, in all seriousness, I think most coaches in CPL could take this roster and create options for a playoff season. They would have more respect than Bob because they’d be trying and working with players having skills they love to respect and showcase.
The worst thing TFC can do is panic and start trying to change the roster. Change the staff, get the roster healthy, work on some core team priorities. Manning can fire Bob, appoint an interim coach, or hire someone like Tata. The players are all there, they just need leadership.
Another clueless and lost performance! Bradley has to go!
Absolutely disgraceful from the players not coming over to applaud the fans! Our so called “captain” stormed off! Mark anthony kaye shameful performance once again then got into an altercation with the fans! Absolutely unacceptable this club is in shambles
Good – EVERYONE now sees the problem is Bob/Manning.
Bad – most of what they do on the pitch, in practice or games.
Ugly – fights in the stands and injuries everywhere.
The injuries in particular. Guys getting hurt when they’re not even on the field, what’s that all about? They need to sort the physios out at this club because it’s getting ridiculous.