MONTREAL—Five minutes is all it took.
Prior to the 68th minute of Tuesday night's Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Championship, it looked as though Toronto FC's hopes were dead and buried after conceding three goals to the Montreal Impact, just as they did last season.
Jozy Altidore breathed life into the moribond carcass with a strong header in the 68th minute after a scrambled play, while the captain, Michael Bradley added the second in the 73rd, two crucial away goals for a 3-2 result that set up a must-see second leg next Wednesday in Toronto (7pm ET; FS1 | TSN, RDS in Canada).
“We were in third or fourth gear at the start,” said Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney. “We were still moving [one way] when the game had already transitioned and was moving the other. We kept finding ourselves on the wrong side of the game. We were behind it. That's a challenge. In moments where you want to oppose or pen [the opposition] in, you can't be late. You've got to be on time, and you've got to make sure you're sharp and organization are appropriate. We paid for that.”
It was a shocking start after two-plus weeks of hype, made more difficult by the bizarre "field maintenance issue" that caused a 30-minute delay as the 18-yard box lines were repainted.
Dominic Oduro nabbed the first in the 10th minute, then Matteo Mancosu added Montreal's second two minutes later. Having tightened up heading into half-time, Ambroise Oyongo's 53rd-minute strike seemed the back-breaker.
“We played into their hands a little bit,” admitted defender Drew Moor, who had marshalled the back-line through the previous three playoff matches while conceding only a single goal. “[We] didn't quite pressure high enough, didn't sit deep enough, we were caught in between. They were looking for the counterattack and we got caught out. It was a poor start, but it was a great response.”
Bradley noted that with the away goals in hand, Toronto enters Leg 2 with the knowledge that they're 90 minutes and a favorable result away from MLS Cup. A 1-0 result puts them through, though any draw sends them home.
“Nothing went how we planned tonight,” Bradley said. “That's football sometimes. You don't get anywhere if you can't play on those days, if you don't have a group that keeps after it, find ways to fight and come away with something. We should all be really proud. It would have been an easy night to pack it in.”
