Impact-Toronto FC Preview
Toronto FC was fuming after starting a three-game homestand by having its club-record three-game winning streak snapped.
The next visitors are the Montreal Impact, who bring in an awful road record yet are starting to look dangerous.
These rivals met this year in the Canadian Championship and play the first of three MLS matchups Wednesday night.
Toronto FC (6-6-1) fell 2-0 to New York City FC on Saturday. Coach Greg Vanney called referee Allen Chapman "naive" and was not happy with what he felt was constant fouling by the expansion team on star forward Sebastian Giovinco, who has team highs of seven goals and six assists.
"He's got scratches all over him, he's been kicked a number of times, he's trying to make a quick run in transition and boom, he's getting hit," Vanney said. "If that's the template, we're going to need the officiating to take care of the players who people come to watch. This league is supposed to be about that."
This could mark the first time in five games that the attacking trio of Giovinco, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley starts together. Altidore has come off the bench the last two matches after a two-game absence due to a hamstring injury.
That trio also started together May 13 in the second leg of the Canadian Championship semifinals in a 3-2 home victory over Montreal, which still advanced by virtue of having more away goals after its 1-0 home win one week earlier. Giovinco and Altidore each scored in the last meeting.
The Impact are 5-2-0 in MLS matches since that series, winning 2-0 at home over Orlando City on Saturday on goals by Donny Toia and substitute Dominic Oduro. Montreal (5-5-2) finished with an 18-12 edge in shots.
"As a team we were fantastic tonight," midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker told the club's official website. "We have a great team and we just need to be more consistent. When we play together as a team, this is what we can do. We have the talent and the character."
Montreal is 1-4-1 on the road, getting outscored 11-3. The Impact are 0-1-3 in MLS matches at Toronto.
Toronto is averaging 1.46 goals for the league's second-highest mark while Montreal is allowing an average of 1.50 for the third-worst. The Impact's shutout Saturday was their second.
"Getting that clean sheet was big for us as we don't do that often enough," defender Bakary Soumare said.
With this contest sandwiched between three-match stretches within a week for both clubs, it's not clear how the rivalry will factor into it. Toronto-born TFC defender Ashtone Morgan told his team's Twitter feed Tuesday that "My least favourite thing about Montreal is the Impact," and the club later deleted that Tweet.
Toronto is eager to get back on the field after getting shut out for the first time in 11 games.
"I love that we play again on Wednesday," Vanney said. "I hope this game (ticked) us off, it has (for) me so hopefully our team has a chip on the shoulder when it comes Wednesday. It's an important game."