TORONTO, ON – CF Montreal is eliminated and officially knocked out of the 2022 Canadian Championship at BMO Field. CF Montreal looked to advance to its second straight final but was beaten handily by their arch-rivals TFC at BMO Field in Toronto.
CF Montreal is eliminated from the 2022 Canadian Championship at BMO Field
📸: @kschischang
— Toronto FC (@TorontoFC) June 22, 2022
Photo Credit: Lucas Kschischang of Toronto FC on June 22, 2022.
Montreal concedes late
TFC almost scored less than a minute in when Jayden Nelson managed to squeak by the Montreal defenders but the ball went off the far post and stayed out. 10 minutes into the first half the visitors had a few good chances but nothing dangerous yet as they looked for openings and space.
40’ Terrific teamwork by #TFCLive resulted in a goal by Ayo Akinola! Luca Petrasso got credit for the assist and Jesús Jiménez played a big part in Akinola’s goal. #OneSoccer#TORvMTL | 1-0 | #CanChamppic.twitter.com/f0v8XiBHEE
— Last Word on Soccer (@LastWordSC) June 23, 2022
Five minutes later it seemed like Toronto was putting immense pressure on Montreal looking for the opening goal and the visitors looked on the back foot. TFC earned a free kick in the 23-minute but it went right into the hands of James Pantemis who was making his first start of the season. Toronto opened the scoring in the 40-minute as Ayo Akinola got a solid pass from Luca Petrasso who was able to get the ball past Pantemis to make it 1-0 late in the first half. Nelson almost doubled TFC’s lead a couple of minutes later but was denied at the far post by Pantemis.
Late in extra time of the first half, Pantemis came up huge again this time on Akinola as he managed to block the ball with his body. The first half finished with Montreal down by one goal with 45 minutes to try and get back into the game.
Montreal falters again as CF Montreal is eliminated from the Canadian Championship in Toronto
54’ Ayo Akinola scores again! What a strike as the #TFCLive striker gets past #CFMTL goalkeeper, James Pantemis! #OneSoccer#TORvMTL | 2-0 | #CanChamppic.twitter.com/DxmWmc7yvs
— Last Word on Soccer (@LastWordSC) June 23, 2022
Wilfried Nancy started the second half by subbing in Kei Kamara for Zorhan Bassong and Mathieu Choniere for Ahmed Hamdi looking to get the offence going. Ismael Kone was able to test Quentin Westberg in the 52-minute but he was able to make a key save. A minute later the home side doubled their lead as Akinola scored his second of the game with a shot from just inside the box that went top shelf on Pantemis. Kamara got his first shot on target of the game in the 58-minute but Quentin Westberg once again made a clutch save.
In the 67-minute, Nancy made his third change of the game taking out Samuel Piette for Matko Miljevic. Nelson tested Pantemis with another quick shot in the 73-minute but the Montreal keeper had no issues making that save. Disaster struck for the visitors two minutes later as off a corner Pantemis made a diving save but the rebound went to Jesús Jiménez who put it into the back of a wide-open net.
Nancy responded by making his fourth change bringing in Joaquin Torres for Jojea Kwizera as the match looked sealed but TFC wasn’t done as Alejandro Pozuelo made it 4-0 in the 79-minute with a quick and fancy move and finished by lobbing over Pantemis and into the net. Montreal earned a corner in the 87-minute but Westberg was keen to keep his clean sheet alive and once again with a solid punch of the ball got it out of danger. Two minutes were added to the 90 as Montreal made one final attempt to get at least a goal on the board.
The game ends with Toronto FC as the victors
Marque finale au BMO Field. pic.twitter.com/imEYyv0Atx
— CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) June 23, 2022
The final whistle blew and the defending champions were out and in the process lost the opportunity to qualify for the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League. As a result, CF Montreal is eliminated from the Canadian Championship. Montreal also lost their chance to defend their Voyageurs Cup, which CF Montreal won last year against TFC.
Coach reaction
Coach Wilfried Nancy didn’t mince words in his post-match press conference explaining where he felt things fell apart.
” When I watched the way we conceded the goals we made a couple of mistakes that’s for sure and to control the offensive transition we didn’t do it well and we conceded soft goals and we need to be more aggressive because this is not normal to allow goals like that but again we have to move on”
Player reaction
Alistair Johnston was very realistic about his team’s performance tonight and he feels they let their keeper out to dry.
” I thought our defensive transition was really poor and that starts with us at the back and we were pushing especially when you are down a goal to find that equalizer to kick start us and I felt we left ourselves exposed and that comes down to us as defenders and I feel bad for our goalkeeper and our fans, James has come in trained hard got his chance and we let him down”
CF Montreal will be back in action looking to turn things around after two straight losses. This included one loss in MLS play against Austin FC. They now also lost to Toronto FC in Toronto in the Canadian Championship. They will now host Charlotte FC this Saturday at Saputo Stadium. The game will kick off at 7:38 p.m. ET. It will be shown nationally in Canada on TSN. It will also be shown live on TVA Sports, WAXN, and Telemundo.
