CF Montreal picks up 4th straight MLS win against sputtering Toronto FC

Winger Lassi Lappalainen and striker Chinonso Offor both scored as CF Montreal beat Toronto FC in Major League Soccer play to win the Canadian Classique 2-0 on Saturday night.

Defender George Campbell earned an assist on the first goal for Montreal (5-6-0), which won its sixth straight game in all competitions.

Toronto (2-4-5) spent the final 34 minutes down to 10 men after winger Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty received a red card.

Toronto (2-4-5) has suffered its third straight defeat in all competitions after also losing to Montreal in the Canadian Championship quarterfinal on Tuesday, a match marred by fights in the stands.

Saturday's match wasn't without fireworks as a scrum broke out between both teams at the end of the match.

The injury-depleted Reds have one win in their last nine matches.

Lappalainen, who came on as a substitute at halftime, broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute. Campbell dribbled around several opponents and laid the ball off to the Finnish winger, who slotted a low cross into the box past Johnson before a sellout crowd of 19,619 at Stade Saputo.

Things got worse from there for Toronto. Marshall-Rutty earned his second yellow card of the match in the 56th minute to put the visiting side down to 10 men. Marshall-Rutty received the second caution for delaying the game when Montreal was attempting a throw-in.

Offor doubled Montreal's lead in the 68th minute, finishing a cross from Zachary Brault-Guillard that deflected off Toronto defender Aime Mabika.

Johnson made a series of saves late in the second half to keep Toronto's deficit at two, stopping Ariel Lassiter, Brault-Guillard and Choiniere on the doorstep.

In the first half, neither club produced a shot on goal.

Toronto FC dominated possession in the first 25 minutes, often funnelling their offence through Bernardeschi, and forced Montreal into committing several turnovers, but had trouble finding a finishing product in the final third.

Bernardeschi had the chance to make a play for Toronto in the box in the 18th minute, but Montreal defender Robert Thorkelsson, in his first MLS start, defended him well to force a corner, which led to nothing.

Montreal then started putting more pressure on the visitors.

Montreal's best chance to score in the first half came in the 29th minute when wingback Aaron Herrera broke down the right side and found Offor in the box, but the striker put his header over the net.

Moments later, Herrera brought more energy to the home crowd by dancing around Toronto defenders down the right wing and sending a cross that fell right in front of the opposing goal, but didn't find a teammate on the other end.

Montreal came close to giving the home side the lead heading into halftime when midfielder Mathieu Choiniere broke out on the break and slid a pass to oncoming winger Ariel Lassiter down the left side, but Lassiter's shot went wide.

Montreal finished the opening frame with three yellow cards, as Campbell, Thorkelsson and Herrera were all penalized.

CF Montreal closed the visiting supporters' section at Stade Saputo for Saturday's match after fights between Toronto FC and Montreal fans broke out in the BMO Field stands during the Canadian Championship quarterfinal on Tuesday. Toronto FC fans who'd bought seats in the supporters' section for Saturday were refunded and the tickets were put back up for sale.

Whitecaps undefeated streak snapped in Portland

Evander scored twice and the Portland Timbers defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in a Cascadia Cup rivalry match on Saturday night.

The loss snapped Vancouver's eight-game unbeaten streak. The Whitecaps had three wins and five draws entering the Major League Soccer match.

Evander scored off a cross from Juan Mosquera to make it 2-0 for the Timbers in the 18th minute. But the Whitecaps (3-3-5) closed the gap on an own goal off Portland's Zac McGraw in the 24th.

The Timbers went up 3-1 in the 54th minute when Evander spun around a defender and blasted his shot into the bottom left corner, out of the reach of diving Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka.

The Cascadia Cup was created by supporters of the Timbers, Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders for the team with the best record on points in head-to-head matches between the three rivals. Portland won last season's Cascadia Cup title.

With wins over Vancouver and the Sounders, the Timbers lead the Cascadia Cup standings this season.