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MLS Toronto FC

CF MONTRÉAL (1) - TORONTO FC (0) POST GAME SUMMARY

July 16, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


CF MONTRÉAL (1) - TORONTO FC (0) POST GAME SUMMARY

SCORING SUMMARY

MTL - Lukas MacNaughton 69' (own goal)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TOR - Michael Bradley 46' (caution)

MTL - Kamal Miller 57' (caution)

MTL - Kamal Miller 81' (ejection)

MTL - Zachary Brault-Guillard 87' (caution)

RECORDS (W-L-D)

Toronto FC 5-12-4 19 points

CF Montréal 10-8-2 32 points

LINEUPS

TORONTO FC - Alex Bono; Kosi Thompson, Shane O'Neill, Lukas MacNaughton, Domenico Criscito; Deandre Kerr (Ifunanyachi Achara 90'), Michael Bradley (C), Mark-Anthony Kaye, Luca Petrasso (Jacob Shaffelburg 90'); Ayo Akinola, Jesús Jiménez

Substitutes Not Used: Quentin Westberg, Kadin Chung, Themi Antonoglou, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Jordan Perruzza

CF MONTRÉAL - James Pantemis; Joel Waterman, Rudy Camacho, Kamal Miller; Alistair Johnston (Zachary Brault-Guillard 80'), Samuel Piette (C), Victor Wanyama, Lassi Lappalainen, Matko Miljevic (Djordje Mihailovic 60'); Kei Kamara (Mason Toye 60'), Romell Quioto (Gabriele Corbo 84')

Substitutes Not Used: Sebastian Breza, Joaquín Torres, Ismaël Koné, Mathieu Choinière, Jojea Kwizera

BOB BRADLEY - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q. What did you make of the performance?

Under pressure most of the game, I thought we defended for the most part pretty well but weren't able to put enough football together and not able to connect enough which just kept us deep.

You know, we spoke at halftime about ways we can still get out a little bit more, the way they set up, especially on one side. I thought we did a little better in the second half but still not enough football. And then we really make a mess out of the goal kick that leads 15, 20 seconds before the goal, short to my Mimmo, under pressure to Shane and probably he has to take a touch, move the ball forward and we move out. On the end of the play, the cross to the back post, we don't do a good enough job in that area and Alex gets caught wandering a little.

Q. Can you walk us through the decision to play with that back three tonight and what did you see from Shane O'Neill in that central role there?

Yeah, when we found out that Oso was having some -- it was a concussion protocol which we didn't fully determine until mid day today, we decided to switch to the back three, and the way Montréal plays, especially at home, they put the backs very high and flat across the line and we felt we could handle that better playing three in the back.

You know, Shane in his role in the centre, especially in the second half was aggressive, stepped up early in the game. Our back three didn't do a good enough job of stepping -- we were letting their two strikers, Quioto and Kamara, hold all three of our defenders and that got a little better in the second half and got out a little quicker but overall defensively Shane was pretty solid.

Q. With 13 MLS games left, is it not frustrating for you about the fact that you still have a team that's getting to know each other, or you still have some major players coming in that still haven't played with you guys or still learning your systems and all that stuff and you really haven't had a chance this season to sort of fire on all cylinders?

Yeah, that's been a challenge. I always keep saying, the first half of the season, but obviously the way things have gone, it's now moved into the second -- the beginning of the second half of the season, and you know, when you consider still at times waiting for players, and at times some injuries and being thin, again, today is another example when we lose Oso we have to sort of change our idea of how we want to play. That's not ideal but obviously got to find a way to keep everybody going. That's been the biggest challenge is to keep everybody believing that we are going to get it to where we want but it's hard work right now and we'll be excited to get a lift when some of these other guys get here, get on the field and see if we can get ourselves on a little bit of a run.

Q. You went back with Bono for the first time in four games. What went into that decision, and what did you make of Alex's performance? He made some big saves for you guys tonight.

Yeah, I think Alex made one or two good saves for sure. I think the one was off-sides in Oso, the flag goes up way after but it's still a very good save. The decision is just -- I thought initially when Q came in, Alex had played a lot of games and thought he was a little bit beat up. Q came in and gave us some really good games, and then in the last little stretch, I think his form has slipped a little bit and we felt it was a night to bring Alex back.

Q. That might be one of the more hostile environments you've played in, tensions flared towards the end.

Well, we knew coming in it would be a good environment, not hostile.

ALEX BONO - GOALKEEPER, TORONTO FC

Q. Tough result tonight in a tough place against your bitter rivals, a game that I know you guys really needed to win. What's the mood like amongst the boys after that performance?

Yeah, it's quiet. We're disappointed. You know, whenever you have a match against your rival, you always want to show up and make a statement and let them know that you've still got one up on them.

Tonight it just didn't quite happen for us. Yeah, everyone's extremely disappointed and it's back to the drawing board for us.

Q. How important was it given some of the soft goals that the team has given up in recent weeks to navigate that first half and stay in this one as long as you guys did?

Yeah, it was huge. You know, it's something that is said in every locker room and every game; that the start is so important in these games. Obviously as of late for us, we've struggled at times.

So it was really important for us to get through the first five, ten minutes. Be smart, not shoot ourselves in the foot like we've done in the past, and you know, we're defending for a lot of the first half. It was tough to get the ball. But credit to the guys, I thought everyone kind of dug in and when we were up against it for a long stretch of that first half, we defended pretty well.

Q. You made those two great saves, especially that first one on Kamara inside the first five minutes. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the damage could have been worse had it not been for those timely saves. Do you take any solace from your performance, or is it just the result at the end of the day that matters?

I would have rather had the other guy's night and come out with a 1-0 win to be honest with you. I told you before, personal performances mean next to nothing to me if we don't get it done as a group. Like I said back to the drawing board for all of us.

Q. How much do you hate hearing that bell ring on the other side, and how much was fun was it to support -- we saw images of them giving you applause after the game?

I saw a lot of red all around the stadium. Obviously the support here is always rocking and we can always hear them. We appreciate the unwavering support especially as we are going through a tough time as a group trying to get ourselves out of it. It's most important for all of us to stay together as a group right now, players, locker room, fans. We can't lose belief. It's like if we start to lose belief, we're doing everyone a disservice. Obviously.

The unwavering support, it does not go unnoticed for sure and I speak for everyone when I say we appreciate the traveling support. Red was all over the stadium and to see that was a nice lift for us that people still came to support us today.

Q. I appreciate what you said about not giving up belief. But there's only 13 games left in the season. You would concede that the team is in a pretty tight spot now, or no?

I mean, yeah, obviously. We know it's not some big secret. Just seems like one game after another, we are getting closer and closer to the end of the season and we talk about how we take a positive and we turn it around and we can keep going, and again, we still have to belief that.

Even on a tough night like this, it's important for us to learn from what didn't happen for us, and to take a few of the positives and try and keep it going. You know, we have to take it one game at a time right now. That's the most important thing. So we have to take this one, put back the video, take our lessons and move on to the next one.

Q. It's been over a year since your guys last away win.

We're battling as a group. I don't think anyone in there is aware of those stats. We don't focus on that. No one really cares about those stats. For us, it has to be a next game mentality and move on to the next one.

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