Toronto FC (7W-6L-1T, 22 points) recorded an emphatic 5-1 victory against rivals CF Montréal (3W-7L-3T, 12 points) in the Canadian Classique at BMO Field, powered by a Federico Bernardeschi hat-trick along with first-half goals from Matty Longstaff and Prince Owusu on Saturday evening.

First Half:

Toronto FC Head Coach John Herdman made five changes from the starting eleven against Nashville SC in midweek with Luka Gavran, Aimé Mabika, Kosi Thompson, Deandre Kerr and Derrick Etienne Jr. making way for Sean Johnson, Federico Bernardeschi, Deybi Flores, Lorenzo Insigne and Prince Owusu.

The Reds got off to an electric start on the lakeshore, racing into a three-goal lead in the opening 20 minutes. Englishman Matty Longstaff kicked things off in the derby at BMO Field when he applied the finishing touch on a swift attack that involved Lorenzo Insigne and Tyrese Spicer in neat build-up play in the sixth minute.

The hosts doubled their advantage soon after when Deybi Flores set up Federico Bernardeschi with a defence-splitting pass before the Italian unleashed an unstoppable effort into the roof of the Montréal net in the 12^th minute.

Seven minutes later, Lorenzo Insigne pounced on a giveaway in the Montréal box to set up Prince Owusu, who made no mistake in scoring with a first-time finish past Jonathan Sirois. The 19^th minute goal marked the first time Toronto FC had scored three goals in the opening 20 minutes of a match in the club’s 18-year history. Despite creating more goalscoring opportunities later in the half, the Reds went into the half-time break leading by three goals.

Second Half:

It took little time for the Reds’ relentless, attacking gameplan to bear further fruit in the second half, with Federico Bernardeschi’s cross into the box, intended for Prince Owusu, evaded the German striker and curled into the Montréal net for TFC’s fourth of the night in the 58^th minute.

Just 108 seconds later, Bernardeschi finished off a team move involving Longstaff, Flores and substitute Derrick Etienne Jr. to score his third goal and TFC’s final goal of the dominant Saturday night. The hat-trick, Bernardeschi’s first for the Reds, marked the club’s first since July 2020 and following the trio of goals, the Italian moves into seventh on the club’s all-time goalscoring charts with 20 goals.

With the three points virtually secured courtesy of the five-goal lead, coach Herdman gave breathers to Insigne, Owusu, Longstaff and Coello before CF Montréal scored a consolation goal and the night’s final goal, through Sunusi Ibrahim, in the 67^th minute.

The five-star performance, courtesy of the Reds scoring five goals in an MLS match for the first time since October 2019, also marked the largest margin of victory Toronto FC have recorded against CF Montréal in Major League Soccer history.

Up next, Toronto FC host CS Saint-Laurent in the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship at BMO Field on Tuesday evening. The Reds carry a sizeable lead into the second-leg, via goals from Matty Longstaff, Deandre Kerr and Federico Bernardeschi, after defeating the Ligue1 Québec side by a score of 3-0 earlier in May. The quarter-final match-up kicks off at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on OneSoccer across Canada.

LINEUPS

TORONTO FC – Sean Johnson; Sigurd Rosted, Nicksoen Gomis, Raoul Petretta; Federico Bernardeschi, Deybi Flores, Alonso Coello (Kobe Franklin 59’), Tyrese Spicer (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 72’); Matty Longstaff (Kosi Thompson 64’), Lorenzo Insigne (C) (Derrick Etienne Jr. 59’), Prince Owusu (Deandre Kerr 64’)

Substitutes Not Used: Luka Gavran, Aimé Mabika, Charlie Staniland, Cassius Mailula

CF MONTRÉAL – Jonathan Sirois; George Campbell, Joel Waterman (Gabriele Corbo 69’), Fernando Álvarez (Joaquín Sosa 46’); Ruan, Samuel Piette (C), Mathieu Choinière (Rida Zouhir 69’), Ariel Lassiter; Jules-Anthony Vilsaint (Alessandro Biello 90+1), Bryce Duke (Dominik Iankov 46’), Sunusi Ibrahim

Substitutes Not Used: Sebastian Breza, Grayson Doody, Victor Wanyama, Ilias Iliadis

NOTABLES:

• Toronto FC scored three goals in the first 20 minutes of a match for the first time in club history, with goals from Matty Longstaff (6’), Federico Bernardeschi (12’) and Prince Owusu (19’).
• Federico Bernardeschi scored his first hat-trick for TFC, marking the club’s first since Ayo Akinola’s trio of goals against CF Montréal in the MLS is Back tournament on July 16, 2020.
• With goals in the 58^th and 60^th minute tonight, Federico Bernardeschi scored the two fastest goals by one player in club history with 108 seconds separating the two strikes.
• Federico Bernardeschi scored his 20^th goal for Toronto FC, moving into seventh on the club’s all-time goalscoring charts.
• Federico Bernardeschi has now been involved in 10 of Toronto FC’s last 15 goals, recording seven goals and three assists, across MLS and Canadian Championship action.
• Deybi Flores registered his first MLS assist for TFC.
• Kosi Thompson made his 50^th MLS regular season appearance for the Reds.
• Toronto FC scored five goals in an MLS match for the first time since scoring five against D.C. United in the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs on October 19, 2019.
• Toronto FC’s four-goal victory marks the largest margin of victory the Reds have recorded against CF Montréal in Major League Soccer history.

**POSTMATCH SOUND**