Tuesday's Canadian Championship match was Toronto FC's first chance at winning a major trophy, but unfortunately for the Reds, the result seemed all too familiar.
The 1-1 draw with Montreal bore some eerie similarities to TFC's last two home results -- a 1-0 loss to Vancouver in an earlier Canadian Championship game and a 0-0 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday. In each of those games, Toronto dominated the second half in terms of ball possession and scoring opportunities, but just couldn't put the ball into the back of the net.
The scoring problem reared its ugly head against on Tuesday. The Reds created the majority of chances in the latter 45 minutes, including a six-minute span at the end of the game where they collected three shots. But it was to no avail, as Montreal was able to hold on for the championship-clinching tie in front of a boisterous but ultimately crestfallen BMO Field crowd.
"We took the game to them again and huffed and puffed and couldn't blow the house down," said Toronto head coach John Carver. "I'm disappointed for everybody. It's really disappointing for me and the players and the staff, but mostly for the fans, since they gave us everything tonight and we do appreciate that."
Montreal led the three-team Canadian Championship tournament with six points in three games entering Tuesday's match, while TFC trailed with four points in three games, three of which came from a 1-0 win in Montreal in the tournament opener on May 27. But the Reds could only manage one point in two games against Vancouver while the Impact scored a pair of 2-0 wins against the Whitecaps.
Montreal therefore needed only a draw in order to capture the Voyageurs Cup and advance to the CONCACAF Champions League, while Toronto needed a win. The Reds jumped out to an early lead after a Rohan Ricketts header in the 15th minute for the club's first competitive goal at BMO Field since June 14.
It took the Impact just 11 minutes to equalize, however, when striker Roberto Brown headed in a corner kick from Joey Gjertsen. TFC captain Jim Brennan was marking Brown, and said the Montreal forward simply beat him.
"It was a great ball in, [Gjertsen] whipped it and it came in with pace," Brennan said. "The two of us were fighting for it, it was an outswing and [Brown] just got onto it. I had my arm on his shoulder, we were both fighting for it and it came off the side of his head and went into the net. It was a good finish.
"We knew what our game plan was, we wanted to score quick. We just couldn't hold the lead. We had a few more chances and we couldn't put them away. Overall, yeah, we're disappointed."
Once the game was tied, Montreal took a more defensive approach while Carver used every tactic he could think of in the second half to create another goal. Midfielder Maurice Edu moved up to play striker in the final 15 minutes, and the U.S. Olympian nearly converted a partial breakaway in injury time.
Edu said it was the first time he had played forward since early in his college days at Maryland. While he said it wasn't his most comfortable role, he was more than willing to do whatever was necessary to generate some offense.
"I don't think it's a matter so much of that's my best position, but that's what the team needed at that point in time," Edu said. "They felt they needed [help up] top, so that's where I played."
Jeff Cunningham and Julius James were substituted into the game in the second half, Cunningham to try and jump-start the attack and James for his prowess at headers in front of the net. Both substitutions nearly paid off in the same play in the 88th minute.
Amado Guevara snaked in a direct free kick and James leapt above the fray and got his head on the ball. The shot, however, bounced off the left post in the area of Cunningham, who saw defender Nevio Pizzolitto back-heel the ball off the line and couldn't get a touch before Montreal goalkeeper Matt Jordan covered on the ball.
Edu was in the midst of the scrum in front of the net and could only see part of the play.
"I saw it hit the post and a little bit of a scuffle in there," Edu said. "Somehow it just went back to the goalie's hands. On a different day it takes a bounce and ... it takes a deflection and goes in. It's kind of been the case lately, the bounces aren't falling for us."
The Reds sent everyone short of goalkeeper Greg Sutton up in the final minutes to generate an attack, which gave Montreal a few chances on the counterattack. Through TFC controlled most of the second half, they tied the Impact 3-3 in shots on goal and only outshot them 7-5 overall in the final 45 minutes.
"We had to go and win the game tonight," Carver said. "A draw wasn't good enough. We did leave ourselves open a little bit, but I had to try and get my fullbacks involved in the game to try and create something. Normally you don't have both fullbacks up at the same time, and unfortunately the lack of quality was disappointing."
Sixteen-year-old rookie Abdus Ibrahim started his third consecutive game for TFC, which Carver said underlined his team's lack of depth at forward. With scoring leader Danny Dichio out with a concussion, Guevara more suited to an attacking midfield role and both Cunningham and Jarrod Smith struggling, the Reds lack a true finisher up front. Carver said the team is working hard to land some scoring help before the close of the summer transfer window in order to both get some goals and to set up further tactical changes.
"I think it's blatantly obvious what we need to do," Carver said. "We don't need one striker, we need two strikers and we need somebody to put the ball in the back of the net.
"I feel Amado can play in a 4-4-2 with Carl Robinson, and if we get two strikers in, we can move on to the next step."
The loss sends Toronto into the All-Star break on a down note. Since beating Colorado 3-1 on June 14, the Reds are a combined 0-5-4 in MLS league play, two friendlies and three Canadian Championship games. The lack of scoring is at the heart of the problem, as Toronto has just six goals in those nine games.
"We're in a bit of a funk right now," Edu said. "We haven't won a game in a while. We just need to find a way to score goals. That's what it comes down to. [We] create chances, work hard, but at the end of the day if you can't score goals you can't win games."
Carver gave full credit to the Impact for the victory and said that this year's tournament was the start of a great rivalry between the Canadian teams over the Voyageurs Cup.
"They're off to a great start, first year of the competition they've gone and won it," Carver said. "I'm sure the fans will look forward to the competition in the future. It's a great idea and it shows that there's not that much difference between the two leagues.
"They got the result they deserved. ... They've done enough to win this competition, so fair play to them."
Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
