Saturday June 16th, 2001.
Lynx besieged by Impact
By JOHN F. MOLINARO -- SLAM!
Sports
TORONTO - After losing a heartbreaking 1-0 game to the Montreal
Impact last night in Montreal, the Toronto Lynx were looking for some revenge
tonight as they played hosts to the Impact in the second half of a home and away
series.
Unfortunately, the Lynx's scoring problems continued as
Toronto lost for the third straight time -- and the fifth time in seven games -
coming out on the wrong end of a 3-1 result to Montreal in A-League Soccer
action this evening at Varsity Stadium.
Toronto's stalwart defence,
prior to tonight's performance the backbone of a Lynx side that can't seem to
buy a goal, surrendered three marvellous scoring strikes to a Montreal squad
that were more determined and wanted the win that much more in claiming their
first road victory of the season.
Montreal opened the scoring in the
15th minute when forward Sunny Nwachukwu chipped a beautiful free kick into the
penalty box that found a streaking Martin Dugas who one-timed the cross into the
back of the net, stopping Toronto goalkeeper Theo Zagar dead in his tracks.
Montreal took a commanding 2-0 lead in the 63rd minute when midfielder
Nick DeSantis' free kick found a wide-open Niall Thompson who headed the ball
home. Zagar turned the ball over to Montreal with a poorly taken goal kick that
saw the Impact immediately counterattack and gain a free kick moments later off
the goalkeeper's gaff.
"It was a free kick and Nick swung it in and I
got my head on it and thank God it went it in," joked Thompson with SLAM! Sports
in a post-game interview.
Toronto managed to cut into Montreal's lead
in the 74th minute when a Robbie Aristodemo free kick just outside Montreal's
18-year box found it's way into the back of the net after a deflecting off the
boot of defender Joe Mattacchione.
Any kind of momentum that Toronto
had hoped to have gained from that goal was snuffed out a minute later when
Montreal forward George Papandreou scored his fourth goal of the season on a
breathtaking bicycle kick from just inside Toronto's 18-yard box after being set
up by team-mate Mauro Biello.
"Mauro made a nice high pass, I stopped
the ball with my chest, the ball was still in the air and I put a lot of height
on the shot so it would go over the goalkeeper," stated Papandreou, who scored
the game winner last night in Montreal in the 88th minute.
After
losing their first five games of the season, Montreal has rebounded with four
wins in their last five games and now has a record of 4-6. Head coach Valerio
Gazzola attributes the turnaround to his players gaining newfound pace and
fitness.
"The slow start happened because a lot of our players
finished up their season with their indoor teams," explained Gazzola. "A lot of
players were not game fit for outdoor soccer. Now, everybody's picking up their
game and is on even keel of playing 90 minutes of soccer.
Toronto head
coach Peter Pinizzotto, dejected over his team's problems in scoring goals this
season, offered no excuses for the way his team played.
"Every time
they had a chance they scored and we pressed and their counterattack burned us.
I thought the second goal was a key goal for them. I came off a mistake that
Theo usually doesn't make. That was the one that killed us."
Toronto
forward Kristian Grzetic had an apparent goal in the 40th minute nullified on an
offside call that Lynx players argued with referee Frank Marciello vigorously
over.
"I haven't seen the tape on Kristian's goal but it looked good
to me," offered Pinizzotto. "I thought that was a very poor call because none of
the Montreal players were complaining so it looked like a good goal. But when
things go bad, they go really bad."
Pinizzotto was also disappointed
in the ineffective play of his defence.
"The first goal was a bad one
because we let Dugas all by himself deep in our box and you just can't leave
players with that kind of experience all by themselves. We made a couple of
mental mistakes and it killed us."
The Lynx, now 2-5 on the season,
travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Riverhounds next Friday in their first of
three consecutive road games. Toronto's next home game is on Friday, July 6th
against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
.
.