August 12, 2015 Toronto FC II--match recap FC Montreal vs Toronto FC II (from impactmontreal.com)
FC Montreal Wins Third Straight, Defeats TFC II Release: 08/12/2015 USL Game Report Wednesday, August 12, 2015 MONTREAL - Jacques Haman scored his third goal in as many games as FC Montreal defeated rivals Toronto FC II 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Stade Saputo. The win was Montreal's third in a row and moved the side into ninth place in the USL's Eastern Conference. The Bleu-blanc-noir took the lead in the eighth minute when Haman dribbled into the penalty area before being tripped by the Toronto defense. The referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot. Midfielder Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé took to kick, and shot low to the right to give Montreal the early lead. Both teams had chances to find the net in the first half, and forced good saves from the respective goalkeepers. In the 26th minute, Montreal's Alessandro Riggi came in from the left flank and passed to Frédéric Lajoie-Gravellle at the edge of the penalty area. His shot forced Toronto goalkeeper Quillan Roberts to dive to his right and push the ball out for a corner kick. In the 37th minute, David Paulmin had to do the same, diving to his right to block a low but strong shot by TFC II captain Chris Mannella. In the 53rd minute, FC Montreal doubled its lead as it pushed forward on a quick sequence. Alessandro Riggi played the ball down the left wing to defender Zachary Sukunda, who crossed the ball to the back post. The ball found Haman who put home a header for his his third goal in three starts. Toronto pulled a goal back as the game entered stoppage time, when Montreal goalkeeper David Paulmin picked up a ball that was judged by the referee to be a back pass. On the indirect free kick in the penalty area that followed in the 91st minute, Mannella scored with a low shot to the left corner to make the score 2-1. Montreal closed out the game, however, to move to 6-1-1 in the second half of the USL season. "We stay focused throughout the game so far this second half of the season, and even if today's game was not as good, we still kept control," said head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. "We could have been more efficient in the box. At the same time, it's a fourth game in 12 days and I think we felt it a bit." "It feels good to have this 6-1-1 record since the second half of the season," said defender Zachary Sukunda. "Confidence is high in the locker room." "Two goals against in the last four games is a lot better," said defender Mitchel Bringolf. "We kept doing what we know and now our confidence is up and that's good. We are much more prepared mentally before the game." The next game will be on the road as Eullaffroy's squad travel to Wilmington, N.C. on Saturday, August 22, to face the Hammerheads at 7 p.m. ET, at Legion Stadium. The game will be available via web streaming at www.impactmontreal.com/fcmontreal.
.
.