Toronto FC suffered a 2-3 loss against CF Montréal at BMO Field on Sunday night.
The opening half saw Toronto FC register two shot attempts to Montréal’s eight. CF Montréal opened the scoring when midfielder Mathieu Choinière buried the rebound from TFC goalkeeper Tomas Romero’s initial save on Montréal forward Jules-Anthony Vilsaint in the 18th minute.
A few moments later, Romero was called into action once again, this time making a terrific save in the bottom right corner, denying Montréal forward Jules-Anthony Vilsaint. Montréal continued to pile on the pressure in the opening half and managed to double their lead when Toronto defender Aimé Mabika conceded an own goal in the 25th minute.
In the 40th minute, Montréal midfielder Bryce Duke rattled a header off the Toronto goalpost. Right before the conclusion of the opening half, Toronto defender Brandon Servania received the first yellow card of the game for a late challenge.
The Reds continued the second half searching for the equalizing goals. In the 49th minute, TFC forward Prince Owusu’s attempt from outside the box forced Montréal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to make a great save. The introduction of Lorenzo Insigne in the 60th minute proved to be a massive catalyst for the Reds. Seven minutes after coming on, Insigne found Federico Bernardeschi at the edge of the box, and Bernardeschi scored a left-footed finesse shot from outside the 18-yard box into the top left corner.
While searching for the equalizing goal, Montréal hit Toronto on the counter. TFC left-back Raoul Petretta was sent off for a late challenge on Montréal winger Lassi Lappalainen, resulting in a penalty. Montréal midfielder Mathieu Choinière scored the penalty in the 79th minute.
TFC goalkeeper Tomas Romero continued to provide a solid defensive presence for the Reds in the final minutes of the game as he made a great save in the 88th minute to limit Montréal’s offence. The Reds were able to pull another goal back in stoppage time when midfielder Jonathan Osorio’s perfectly weighted ball found Federico Bernardeschi, who scored his second goal of the game after lacing a terrific right-footed shot from outside of the 18-yard box into the bottom left corner.
Unfortunately for the Reds, an equalizer was not to be found this game.
The Reds return to action on Saturday, August 26th, at Lower.com Field in Columbus.
