Jun 19 Montreal Impact Routed 6-1 by New Nutrilite Champions Toronto FC

The scenario was eerily similar. The Impact, although in this particular case, had nothing to win, went int this game knowing that in order for their competitors to advance, they needed to win the game by at least 4 goals. As was the case with Santos Laguna where that impact saw their CONCACAF aspirations go up in smoke after the Mexican squad scored 5 unanswered goals, the Impact scored the first goal of the game and needed only defend for the duration in order to prevent Toronto FC from taking the Nutrilite Canadian Championship away from the Vancouver Whitecaps. Toronto had other plans and their perseverance as well as Montreal's depleted defensive core resulted in 6 unanswered goals and a chance to compete in the CONCACAF.

The look on Tetur Thordarson, the Whitecaps coach who was in Montreal for the game, said it all. He could not believe that the Impact could conceivably give up not 4, but 6 goals, thus eliminating his team from the CONCACAF playoffs. Impact president Joey Saputo was more precise with his post game statements: “Tonight’s result is extremely disappointing. The players wearing the Impact jersey have to show pride and they did not tonight. Even though the match had no significance, we can’t hide our heads in the sand. This is not the way this club should perform in front of our fans, in our stadium. Being first and foremost a fan, I know that this is not acceptable.”

The impact went into this game with no less than eight players out of the lineup Thursday: defenders Nevio Pizzolitto (groin), Adam Braz (thigh), Cédric Joqueviel (thigh) and Zanzan (national team), midfielders Mauro Biello (clavicle) and Patrick Leduc (foot), as well as forwards Eduardo Sebrango (personal reasons) and Pa Amadou Gai (thigh). 

According to coach Marc Dos Santos, this should not have been an excuse. “I had to trust everyone tonight, since this was not a significant game. It’s just unfortunate to see how certain players responded. They were supposed to give everything they had and this is not what happened. We did not play with character.” Dos Santos went on to congratulate the Toronto squad, saying that they were definitely the better team on the pitch.

Montreal's Tony Donatelli scored the Impact's only goal at the 24th minute on a penalty kick which eventually were followed by Toronto FC's Dwayne De Rosario's hat trick (29th, 39th and 49th minute)  Midfielder Amado Guevara 2 goals (69th and90th minute) and Chad Barrett's clincher in the last moments of the game.

To add to the irony of all this, Montreal's next game is today against the Vancouver Whitecaps. One would think that the Whitecaps may want to "thank" the Impact for their inspired play against Toronto, which inevitably yanked the Nutrilite Championship from their grasp. Montreal and Vancouver have been jostling positions in the USL division one standings all season so this game is bound to entertain. The key here for Impact fans is whether the Montreal squad has had enough time to regroup physically and mentally in order to show up for a game that, this time, "counts" for something.   

Tags: concacaf \ Dwayne De Rosario \ Joey Saputo \ Marc dos santos \ Montreal Impact \ Nutrilite Championship \ Tony Donatelli \ toronto FC \ Vancouver Whitecaps