The Montreal Impact welcomed their star man back to the starting lineup on Saturday, but they simply couldn’t solve Toronto FC’s airtight defense.
Despite Didier Drogba’s much-anticipated first start of the season — the Ivorian ultimately played the full 90 minutes — the Impact (4-3-0) could not find the back of the net for the first time in their last 10 home games
Sebastian Giovinco scored twice to give Toronto FC a 2-0 victory over Montreal in front of a sell-out crowd at Stade Saputo on Saturday afternoon — the Impact’s first home loss since Sept. 5, 2015.
“They made it difficult to break down,” said midfielder Harry Shipp. “We got in and couldn’t finish. We lacked the final pass. They did a good job of making it really hard to get in behind them and get chances on goal.
“We tried to speed things up, but they did a good job slowing the game down and make it hard for us. They have guys who are going to make it really hard to play. We definitely could have played better. We didn’t execute as well as we wish we would have.”
The Impact were kept to just two shots on target as Toronto’s stingy defense limited the home side’s chances all game. The Reds shut down Shipp and Ignacio Piatti in the midfield, and as a result Drogba had very few touches of the ball.
When Drogba was at his most dangerous, his shot was either blocked or he missed the target. Of his six shots, only one made its way to ‘keeper Clint Irwin — an easy save from a soft header.
Goalkeeper Evan Bush thought Montreal lacked purpose.
“They did very well getting second balls off of Didier,” he said. “You could tell that was something they stressed throughout the course of the week. Props to them for doing that today.
“We moved the ball well side to side, but we didn’t do anything with it.”
Montreal never recovered from Giovinco’s goal from the penalty spot in the 40th minute. TFC earned the spot kick after Jozy Altidore was taken down in the box by Impact defender Victor Cabrera.
“I can’t argue with it,” Bush said of the call. “Anytime you go to ground, and the player goes down, it makes the decision easy for the referee. You just need to stay on your feet, not let him cut back inside and keep pushing him to the outside. He came back inside and only bad things happen from there.”
