Welcome back to the Canadian MLS Roundup for week twelve, as we take a look across the three Canadian MLS teams, assessing their form and any relevant story-lines from the week.
Vancouver vs. LAFC (2-2)
Rivalries between teams can form in many ways, like the derby between geographically near teams (Portland and Seattle) or between teams that are considered top of their leagues (Madrid, Barcelona). Sometimes it is simply a team you have had a difficult time with historically as is the case with Vancouver and LAFC.
However, rarely have the Whitecaps gone into this match with as much firepower and energy as they have been able to bring in this season.
Disaster seemed to loom early, as LAFC’s Marc Delgado scored in the 8th minute, and only 11 minutes later, a foul conceded by Edier Ocampo granted a penalty kick, letting Denis Bouanga put LAFC up 2-0.
A quick reversal like this can crush team morale, but the Whitecaps were not deterred, and the Sebastian Berhalter & Brian White combo train clawed back a goal a few minutes later, allowing for a bit of breathing at half time. LAFC had pushed hard at times, and the Whitecaps occasionally felt like they were playing a bit off balance. Jayden Nelson got locked down pretty effectively on the far flank and the usual tricks did not seem to pay off.
The second half felt much more confident for Vancouver, as the team rallied about the instructions from Jesper Sørensen, with a series of attacks eventually allowing White to head it in and bring the score to 2-2. The affair had been messy with 29 fouls combined and 5 yellow cards, Yohei Takaoka was called in to save 5 times, and LAFC led in both shots taken and shots on goal. Some days 2 goals wins you the game. On Sunday, it meant not losing the game. Sometimes that is enough.
Montreal vs. NYCFC (1-0)
It has not been an easy season for Montreal, and an away game to boot made this a tough challenge. The opening minutes showed a New York team eager to make a statement, with Jonathan Sirois forced into a heroic save early on to keep things 0-0.
After the initial threat subsided, Montreal was able to regain their bearings and start working their way up the field, though having to contend with a sticky New York side heavily contesting every inch. A notable improvement was Prince Owusu seeming a lot more confident on his feet.
Montreal created a number of individual chances, though the vital coordination in the box still felt elusive. However, the back line held well, absorbing New York’s pushes, and enabling a series of counter attacks. Despite NYC sitting at 56% possession throughout the half, they only managed 4 shots with Montreal producing far more chances.
Counter based football is a high risk game that requires nerves and confidence to pull off, and the second half risked seeing New York inexorably gain the upper hand. The mood of the travelling fans must have lifted considerably when Owusu managed to score at 47 minutes, despite being surrounded by NYCFC players: A similar situation to where he had lost his nerve last week, and surely a moment of redemption.
The back and forth continued throughout the second half with NYC generally holding on to the ball more, but Montreal creating a great number of chances, more than double in fact, and New York often having challenges decisively clearing out of their own half. The lack of decisive finishers also affected the home side, as few of their shots on goal felt convincing.
When the final whistle blew, Montreal could satisfy themselves with what the Germans call an Arbeitssieg: A win you had to put in a shift of work for. But football doesn’t award 3 points for looking good, it awards 3 points for ending the game with more goals, and Montreal did just that.
Toronto FC vs. D.C. United (2-0)
Toronto’s fortunes have been a long time in the making. Robin Fraser has said a few times that he felt training was going well and that things would look up, and I have opined before that it felt like a strategy was coming together.
This, then, was the chance for all of it to come together. In the past, play seemed to mostly rely on sitting tight and letting Federico Bernadeschi make a dash for it when a chance arose, but now there was a concerted effort at the front, with Theo Corbeanu and Ola Brynhildsen working aggressively, while the TFC backline kept up a stubborn, high confrontation, defence that made DC quickly lose the ball on the few occasions whey were able to venture into the opposing half.
The flurry of attacks did not pay off with any goals but by half time, though Toronto had accumulated 13 shots, compared to a single shot, off target, for DC.
The second half had the pay-off for TFC, as Corbeanu blazed down the wing and shot it to Lorenzo Insigne, who brought the game to 1-0 in favour of Toronto.
After this statement, it was an open question whether the team would try to park the bus or keep up the pressure, particularly as DC began getting their formation in order, while Toronto slowly began wearing down as the minutes ticked on. Sean Johnson was called upon to make a few impressive saves, but the Toronto defence mostly held their own.
At 65 minutes, an attack by Insigne, Bernadeschi, and Brynhildsen paid off for TFC once again, bringing the score to 2-0, though it was counted as an own goal in the end by Lucas Bartlett. When the final whistle blew, Toronto had their first home win since September. And a well earned one at that.
It was not all roses: Crosses in the final offensive moments often still went wide for TFC, and Bernadeschi still has to track all the way back to help defend, but this was good to see, and I think everyone will have eyes on their next match to see what comes out of it against a stronger opponent.
Looking Ahead
Vancouver continues to dominate the Western Conference, but is only 2 points ahead of Cincinnati and Columbus, who fortunately drew against Philadelphia, in the shield race.
The next match is Austin on the 17th. The April match was a brutal 5-1 obliteration, with the Whitecaps being better in almost every stat, but Austin is a team not afraid to play a physical game.
Would you look at that? Toronto climbs above Atlanta with 10 points, and another win could see them surpass DC as well. Wednesday night pits them against Cincinnati, the Eastern Conference leaders, which will not be an easy challenge in the slightest. However, the team will go into it with raised spirits that they can win games with the current squad.
For Montreal, 6 points is a welcome improvement. While it doesn’t gain them any ranks in the Eastern Conference, it does give them some cushion over equally long-suffering LA Galaxy. The good news is that two wins is still enough to gain serious ground. The bad news is that they play Columbus, who have conceded the fourth fewest goals in the league, currently.
Montreal actually has slightly above 50% possession so far in the season, so if they are able to hold on and carve out some space, they may be able to make some statements against the Crew.
With a double match week for most teams, Toronto and Montreal fans get an extra treat as the weekend will see the two play each other once again, after their recent bout in the Canadian Championship. Both teams could definitely use the boost there.
See you next week.