Oct. 25, Stade Saputo, Montreal, Quebec
MONTREAL IMPACT 2, TORONTO FC 1 (Att.: 20,801-confirmed sellout)
Partly cloudy, cold; Game time temp.: 5 C/41 F
Match Report
After playing five straight games at home, and winning all but the last one against Columbus, TFC would conclude the MLS regular season on Decision Day with a match at Canadian rival Montreal Impact, cheered on by a notable travelling contingent of supporters. The game pitted two of the league’s top foreign stars, TFC’s Sebastian Giovinco and Impact’s Didier Drogba, meeting for just the first time as the Ivorian was held out with an injury the last time the teams met at BMO Field at the end of August.
Giovinco started alongside Jozy Altidore in the 4-4-2 favored by coach Greg Vanney and it took Seba just five minutes to test Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush. Giovinco took a pass deep in the attacking third from captain Michael Bradley, took two strides towards the Impact goal and unleashed a swerving shot that Bush alertly parried just wide for a corner.
Less than ten minutes later, Giovinco earned another opportunity as he collected a pass inside the Impact goal area from Robbie Findley and, in full stride, hammered a strike from point blank range that Bush saved.
Giovinco was finding spaces to exploit in between the lines and, just before the half hour mark, he took a backheel pass from Altidore and teed up a shot that fell just wide of the post.
Then, just two minutes later, Seba dazzled the crowd with a weaving run that saw him elude three Impact defenders before lofting a cross into the box for Findley, who struck a header that Bush managed to tip just over the bar.
In the 44th minute, Giovinco threatened again when he sidestepped Impact centre back Laurent Ciman, then outmuscled defender Victor Cabrera to the ball before striking a weak shot from a tight angle that Bush saved comfortably.
It seemed the teams would be content to re-enter the locker rooms goalless but with mere seconds to play before the halftime whistle, TFC broke the deadlock as Giovinco crossed from the left edge of the box and found Altidore who beat Bush with a looping header to the top corner of the net. The set-up marked Giovinco’s 16th assist of the season.
The TFC faithful celebrated the goal through much of the halftime break but, within ten minutes of the re-start, the Impact would silence the visiting fans and inspire the local supporters with a breathtaking display in a span of 60 seconds that overturned the result. Drogba netted two goals in rapid-fire succession, both from ten yards out, first with a deft backheel following a cross from captain Ignacio Piatti and, then, with a stab of the foot following a pass from Marco Donadel.
Vanney explained what turned the tide in the Impact’s favour in those harrowing few seconds.
“For some reason, out of the blocks, we started the second half too passive,” Vanney said. “We were sitting in too much and not getting pressure on the ball. There was a stretch of 10 to 15 minutes, we were late to everything, we were turning the ball over, we were slow to everything. The mindset coming out of the locker room was supposed to be continue to be aggressive, continue to push the game but we started passive and it cost us.”
Drogba’s impressive feat in that short span of time overshadowed Giovinco’s efforts to that point and the Atomic Ant was at a loss for words on why TFC was overrun so quickly by the Impact.
“Unfortunately, this has happened to us before,” Giovinco admitted. “It’s a problem we’ve had for some time. I can’t really say what went wrong but it just keeps happening.”
Giovinco agreed that, at times, he found it difficult to elude the marking of Impact centre backs Ciman and Cabrera.
“It’s something I deal with every game,” said Giovinco. “Sometimes I can get around it and sometimes I can’t. I was unlucky on a couple of occasions, too.”
It wasn’t until the 74th minute that Seba would re-emerge in the TFC attack, taking a pass from Altidore just beyond midfield and running at the Impact defense before laying the ball off to Jonathan Osorio who spotted Bradley alone at the top of the box but the TFC captain saw his effort strike the crossbar.
Only a minute later, Giovinco’s free kick from a central position 25 yards out fell wide of the mark.
TFC looked for more offensive spark late in the match as Vanney sent on strikers Herculez Gomez and, later, Luke Moore to try and conjure up an equalizer and, in added time, they nearly found the tying goal when Giovinco played a give-and-go with Bradley before laying off to Altidore but the American striker, with Bush at his mercy, saw his close range effort blocked by a sliding Hassoun Camara.
TORONTO, ON – MAY 10: Sebastian Giovinco #10 of Toronto FC has a shot on goal during an MLS soccer game between the Houston Dynamo and Toronto FC at BMO Field on May 10, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
At the final whistle, TFC players were informed of results from other matches that would conspire the Reds to fall to sixth place and face a wildcard playoff road game right back at Stade Saputo against the very same Impact side in a one-and-done, knockout match on Thursday night.
In his post-game comments Vanney expressed the reasons why he feels his team can attain a result on the same field against the same team in just four days time.
“I thought our first half was pretty dominant,” Vanney remarked, “in terms of controlling their chances and giving ourselves the run of the game and getting things in front of their goal and creating opportunities.
“What gives us confidence is that we know when we’re an aggressive team in terms of our speed of play, when we’re attacking and not sitting in a shell and defending deep, then we’re going to create chances.”
Giovinco also felt TFC could earn a win in the playoff rematch if the team stuck to the game plan.
“We know what their strengths and weaknesses are,” Seba said, “so we’re just going to have to go out and do our best.”
Giovinco completed the regular season with 22 goals, a mark that tied him with Kei Kamara of Columbus, however, Seba will earn the Golden Boot award on the strength of his 16 assists.
The other honor he is in the running for, the league MVP award, will be determined by a ballot and announced at a later date.
Giovinco’s Key Moments:
5th – takes pass from Bradley, tries swerving shot from outside box, deflected for corner by Bush
14th – takes pass from Findley in full stride, shoots from point blank range but Bush saves
29th – takes backheel pass from Altidore, shot from edge of box is just wide of post
31st – Collects pass and sprints past three defenders before crossing for Findley whose header is tipped over bar by Bush
44th – takes pass from Jackson, sidesteps Ciman and beats Cabrera but weak shot is saved by Bush
45th – crosses from the left edge of box for Altidore whose header sails over Bush and into the net (16th assist)
74th – takes pass from Altidore and runs at Impact defence, lays off to Osorio who plays it back to Bradley whose shot hits the crossbar
75th – strikes free kick from 35 yards just wide to the left of Bush
Giovinco’s Key Stats (via OptaSports):
Total shots = 3
Shots on Target = 2
Touches = 28
Total Passes = 7
Passing Accuracy = 57 %
Giovinco’s Match Rating: 7
Started game impressively, finding pockets of space both centrally and in wide areas, threatening to strike at goal with virtually every touch of the ball. Was the inspiration for Altidore’s tie-breaking goal. Became less influential in second half as team reeled from quick-strike Impact offense and neither he nor team fully recovered from that 60-second moment of panic.
MVP Watch – League Stats:
Goals = 22 (T-1st)
Assists = 16 (1st)
Shots = 181 (1st)
Shots on Goal = 73 (1st)
Giovinco’s Next Game:
Thurs. Oct. 29 at Montreal Impact – Stade Saputo, 7pm ET (Eastern Conference wild card)
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