When Andrés Romero scored 22 seconds into tonight’s game in Toronto, the TFC jokes were flying, people quick with their calculators instantly figuring out Ryan Nelsen’s team was on pace to lose something like 234-0. Then, for once, Toronto flipped the script.
Jeremy Brockie equalized in the sixth minute before the back line took over. Steven Caldwell had TFC up in the 21st. Darren O’Dea gave the Reds a two-goal lead on 24 minutes. Toronto had only scored 14 goals through 12 games before kickoff, but after O’Dea’s first of the year, they were on pace to score seven times on Wednesday. Take that, mathletes!
Toronto carried that lead well into the second half. But then TFC happened. Houssan Camara scored in the 69th, and one minute, later Marco Di Vaio finished the job, his 11th goal of the year costing Toronto two points.
For the sellout crowd at BMO, the result may have been a disappointment, but seeing their team explode for three quick goals is a significant silver lining (not that they can always count on goals from Caldwell and O’Dea). For Montréal, however, they’ve now allowed seven goals in five days to teams who are unlikely to make the playoffs. Though they stay atop the East, only two teams in the conference have worse defensive records: Philadelphia and D.C. United.
That controlling Montréal team that we saw sprint to the top of the East in March? They’re gone, apparently. What remains is a potentially more exciting by also more flawed Impact.
And that leaves the East wide open.