Toronto starts defence with 2:0 win

Toronto FC scored two goals over the shorthanded Impact Montréal to take an early advantage in the 2010 Nutrilite Canadian Championship.



Player of the match Dwayne De Rosario continued the strong form that earned him MLS Player of the week honours last week, but his performance was overshadowed by costly injuries and cautions that littered the highly physical match before a tournament-record crowd of 21,436.



Toronto lost defenders Ty Harden indefinitely to a leg laceration and Nick Garcia to a head injury at a crowded point in its schedule, which saw it play its second of three matches in a week.



“I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure,” said De Rosario. “When we got the goal, we kind of took our foot off the pedal a little bit, then they got a red card and we started to pick up our momentum.”



“I think we did a lot better job in the second half in terms of picking up moments, keeping the ball, moving it side to side and building a nice rhythm.”



With the win, defending champion Toronto continued its dominance of the USSF Second Division Impact. Toronto also improved its record over the Impact to four wins and a draw, while stretching the Impact’s losing streak to five games.



The tournament champion qualifies as Canada’s entry into the CONCACAF Champions league.



Toronto opened the scoring in the 12th minute against the 2008 champions when De Rosario took advantage of a loose ball off a Harden corner to left-foot the ball by a helpless Matt Jordan.



After the goal, though, there were four first-half cautions and the ejection of Montréal striker Roberto Brown for what looked like a punch to Garcia’s head. Impact coach Marc Dos Santos claimed to have not seen the play, but the referee saw enough to warrant a straight red to the Panamanian.



“I didn’t see the play,” said Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos. “If I see the play and it’s a clear red card, for sure I’m gonna sit down with the player. For sure he’s gonna be in trouble because it’s not fair for these guys who had to fight on their own.”



That put Montréal in a big hole and it hardly tested Toronto FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei the rest of the way with only three shots total.



The last time these teams met Toronto routed Montréal 6:1 in the final match of last year’s tournament to beat out Vancouver Whitecaps FC for the title on goal differential. This time, Toronto didn’t need as much firepower.



Barrett then put the game away in the 61st minute when he took a pass from De Rosario and eluded two Impact defenders in the penalty area before blasting the ball by Jordan.

Montréal will try to regroup when it travels to Vancouver to face Whitecaps FC in the tournament’s second match on 5 May.



TORONTO FC 2 (1) MONTRÉAL 0 (0)

Nutrilite Canadian Championship – Wednesday 28 April 2010

BMO Field – Toronto, ON

Attendance : 21,346

Weather : Partly cloudy, 8°C

Referee : Paul Ward (CAN)

Assistant Referees : Darren Clark (CAN), Joe Fletcher (CAN)

Fourth Official : Justin Tasev (CAN)

Goals : TORO – DeRosario (12’); Barrett (61’)

Cautions : TORO – Cronin (23’); de Guzman (34’); Gargan (56’); Frei (80’). MONT – Pizzolitto (24’); Braz (45’)

Ejection : MONT – Brown (35’)

Players of the match : TORO – De Rosario. MONT – DeRoux



Lineups

TORONTO FC – Frei – Harden (Hscanovics 18’); Garcia (White 39’); Cann; Gargan – Cronin; de Guzman; Gala; Peterson (Labrocca 62’) – De Rosario; Barrett

Substitutes not used : Conway; Ibrahim; Saric; Usanov

Head Coach : Preki



MONTRÉAL – Jordan – Joqueviel; deRoux; Pizzolitto; Braz – Donatelli; Di Lorenzo (Placentino 65’); Soares (Billy 42’); Testo – Byers (Sebrango 68’); Brown

Substitutes not used : Djekanovic; Aaboubou; Leduc; Gatti

Head Coach : Marc Dos Santos