MONTREAL — CF Montreal will head into the international break with a win, decisively beating Minnesota United 4-0 at Stade Saputo on Saturday night in Major League Soccer action.
The break also puts an end to a congested run of games where Montreal played 11 times in 36 days.
Toye, with goals in the seventh and 57th minutes, got offensive help from Zachary Brault-Guillard with a goal in the 13th minute and Rudy Camacho in the 76th. Montreal improved to 7-9-1 with the win, while Minnesota (5-7-5) has now lost eight of its last nine games on the road in all competitions.
This was Montreal’s seventh consecutive win at home in all competitions, keeping a clean sheet in every one of them.
“The positivity in this group has been so important, any players that is in the group has the right mindset,” said head coach Hernan Losada. “This run was honestly extremely tiring. I’m exhausted. If I feel this way, I can only imagine how the players feel, this schedule was madness.”
The game began with an indicator that it would be played in a wide-open manner as both teams enjoyed stints of possession in advanced areas.
Just seven minutes into the game, Montreal’s verticality split Minnesota down the middle as Toye ran through the defence before lobbing it over the goalkeeper. There were no celebrations from the 2018 Minnesota United draftee out of respect for his former club, but there did appear to be a weight lifted off his shoulders after struggling with fitness since arriving at the club.
“Football is a weird sport with a lot of ebbs and flows,” said Toye who had to balance runs of good form with three separate surgeries during his time in Montreal.
"The past few years have been crazy for me and hopefully that stops. I’ve worked really hard with (Alessandro Marconato) our rehab guy who’s done all three of my rehabs and he’s unbelievable.”
On the back of Toye’s goal and a raucous Stade Saputo crowd, Montreal continued to press the psychological advantage and capitalize on the momentum in their favour.
Just five minutes later, Montreal would double its lead when an inch-perfect cross-field ball from Gabriele Corbo picked out Brault-Guillard in alone. The wing back made no mistake, blasting the ball into the roof of the net.
Minnesota came out of the halftime break with renewed enthusiasm as star midfielder Emmanuel Reynoso made only his second appearance of this season. After having regained control of the tempo, Montreal extended its lead just before the hour mark.
A well-placed cross from Brault-Guillard led to a scramble in the penalty area that allowed Toye to pounce on a loose ball and secure his brace.
“Working as a second-string player, it’s on me to make the most of the minutes I’m given and show my character,” said Brault-Guillard who has impressed in recent substitute appearances. “Whenever I get the chance to showcase my offence and bring my speed, I do what I can to help the team and show my value.”
United replied with a pair of chances as Franco Fragapane was played in twice but was rejected both times by Montreal 'keeper Jonathan Sirois.
The home side then put the game away with 15 minutes left when Camacho was able to redirect a corner from Bryce Duke into the bottom corner of the net, making the score 4-0.
“The message at halftime was ‘the game isn’t over, let’s go for the third or the fourth goal’ and we pressed even more than at the start of the game,” said Losada. “All our substitutions were with the mentality of playing forward and scoring goals. Of course, we took risks and they could’ve scored one or two times, but that’s the style of CF Montreal.”
UP NEXT
There will be no MLS action for the next two weeks as selected players will join their national teams. Montreal will return to Stade Saputo on June 21 and host Nashville SC, while Minnesota takes on Real Salt Lake on June 24.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2023.
Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press
