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Despite taking a 1-0 lead from Dwayne De Rosario's opportunistic 12th minute strike, and going up a man following Roberto Brown's ejection after he decked Nick Garcia, Toronto started playing "casual" and "negative" according to head coach Preki.
After what the coach described as "hard words" at halftime, Toronto came out with greater purpose to punish the disadvantaged visitors. It paid off in the first 15 minutes when Chad Barrett took a pass from De Rosario, rounded past Adam Braz and Cedric Joqueviel and blasted the ball inside Matt Jordan's goal to give TFC an irreversible 2-0 lead.
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At just over half way through the first half, an incident occurred on the near side of the pitch when Barrett got his boot up on a 50/50 ball, with Montreal defender Nevio Pizzolitto nearly at the receiving end of a high kick. The Impact player took offense and shoved Barrett, drawing a caution from referee Paul Ward.
Barrett and Pizzolitto scuffled a few more times during the match, making gestures and exchanging words all night. Barrett got the better of Pizzolitto for good when the Montreal captain could only watch helplessly as the Toronto striker netted his third career NCC goal.
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Toronto goalkeeper Stefan Frei earned his second clean sheet this week, by ensuring the momentum would remain with the Reds during that period which Preki identified as dangerous to the BMO Field side.
Frei protected Toronto's lead despite losing two defenders to injury causing several lineup adjustments. At the 33rd minute he stopped Peter Byers from up close. He snatched the ball away from him again in the air ten minutes later. Then deep into first half injury time, he lunged to stop a deflected free kick from Leonardo Di Lorenzo. A goal by Montreal during that sequence would have provided Toronto a difficult second half.
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Toronto (4-4-2 formation): Stefan Frei, Dan Gargan, Nick Garcia, Adrian Cann, Ty Harden, Sam Cronin, Julian de Guzman, Jacob Peterson, Gabe Gala, Dwayne De Rosario, Chad Barrett.
Montreal (4-2-2 formation): Matt Jordan, Cedric Joqueviel, Stephen deRoux, Nevio Pizzolitto, Adam Braz, Tony Donatelli, Leonardo Di Lorenzo, Filipe Soares, David Testo, Peter Byers, Roberto Brown.
Goals: Toronto - De Rosario 12' Barrett 61'
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Saturday, May 1 v. Real Salt Lakel
MLS Week 6
9PM (RSN)
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GAME NOTES:
Toronto had a terrible time at this fixture last year, losing 3-0 at the end of June ahead of an international break. Toronto's away form this year doesn't inspire confidence either (three emphatic losses from three road games), but the win against Montreal in NCC, and last Sunday's masterful performance against Seattle will have TFC buzzing. Salt Lake has just one win in five games so far in 2010, though to be fair the losses came away to powerhouse sides Houston, Los Angeles and Columbus. They've only played one game at home thus far (a 2-2 draw against Seattle) and the match against Toronto will kick off a three-game home stand.
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10-3
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Toronto outshot Montreal.
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7
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Cards handed out by referee Paul Ward. Toronto received four cautions. Montreal was issued two yellows and one red.
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24
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Number of total fouls - TFC with 13
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5
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Toronto has never lost to Montreal in NCC over this many matches (4W, 1D). |
11-2
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Amount by which Toronto has outscored Montreal in five NCC meetings.
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"We got a goal, and the injury, the red card, all kinds of things ... (then) we lost our rhythm. I thought we were a little bit casual." - Preki on how Toronto finished the first half, before he made demands of his club to come out better at the restart.
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"I think the fans came to see a soccer match not a boxing match, they got both ... you are going to get (that), especially playing against Montreal." - Chad Barrett on the nature of a Toronto/Montreal match, specifically referencing Brown's hit on Garcia. |
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"These games are going to be physical. These games are going to be demanding ... I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure." - Dwayne De Rosario on how he felt Toronto handled the unique trait of NCC matches between Canadian rivals.
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