CF Montreal defeats New York Red Bulls for 2nd win of season
Toronto FC's 7-game unbeaten streak snapped with loss to Philadelphia Union
CF Montreal, playing with 10 men after the 65-minute mark, put on an impressive second half defensive display to secure a 2-0 win against the visiting New York Red Bulls on Saturday night at Stade Saputo.
New York (1-3-5) took control of the match early after applying pressure in the midfield. It turned into the first chance of the game just six minutes in as Wikelman Carmona was played through, forcing Jonathan Sirois to come off his line and make an early save.
That seemed to be Montreal's wakeup call as they began moving the ball wide and creating space on the flanks. It paid dividends almost immediately as low crosses caused havoc in the Red Bull penalty area.
In the 25th minute, a perfect ball from Aaron Herrera was deflected by defender Reyes, giving Montreal the lead.
Chinonso ouvre la marque 👊<br><br>Chino gets in behind the defensive line to open the scoring. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MTLvRBNY?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MTLvRBNY</a> | 1-0 | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFMTL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFMTL</a> <a href="https://t.co/RlCtA5P8c7">pic.twitter.com/RlCtA5P8c7</a>
—@cfmontreal
Montreal almost doubled their lead in the 37th minute through Victor Wanyama who got his foot on the end of a corner, only to be denied by Carlos Coronel who saved the shot inches away from the goal line.
As the second half began, Montreal continued their control over the pace of play. That changed just after the hour mark. New York was given a way back into the game when a controversial officiating decision saw Ilias Iliadis receive his second yellow card for delay of game.
With just one minute left, Montreal put the game out of reach as Choiniere started a counter attack from his own penalty area and scored off a rebound.
Both teams are back in action on April 29 as Montreal goes on the road to Sporting Kansas City while New York heads to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Fire.
Uhre's hat trick leads Philadelphia past Toronto
Danish international forward Mikael Uhre scored a hat trick as the Philadelphia Union snapped a five-game league winless run in dispatching Toronto FC 4-2 in MLS play Saturday.
Alejandro Bedoya, Julian Carranza and Daniel Gazdag each had two assists for Philadelphia, which led 4-0 after 56 minutes before taking its foot off the pedal for the remainder of the game.
The lone bright spot for Toronto was a 66th-minute goal by Lorenzo Insigne, marking his first start since suffering a groin injury in the season opener. Jonathan Osorio found him behind the Philadelphia defence and the Italian star curled a shot past Andre Blake to make it 4-1.
A trademark tiraggir to open his 2023 account 💫<a href="https://twitter.com/Lor_Insigne?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Lor_Insigne</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TFCLive?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TFCLive</a> <a href="https://t.co/0N8AAV3hIu">pic.twitter.com/0N8AAV3hIu</a>
—@TorontoFC
Richie Laryea added a consolation goal in stoppage time, cracking a shot past Blake.
TFC was without injured captain/midfielder Michael Bradley, fullback Cristian Gutierrez, centre back Matt Hedges, midfielder Victor Vazquez and forward Adama Diomande.
Osorio captained Toronto again in Bradley's absence.