MONTREAL - The Montreal Impact are by far the worst team in the MLS this season and didn't prove any skeptics wrong Saturday in Montreal, falling 2-0 to Toronto FC, but they are hoping to excel in a totally different venue, as the squad returns to their home pitch Tuesday for a CONCACAF Champions League match.
The FAS squad are officially known as the Club Deportivo Futbolistas Asociados Santanecos and play in Santa Ana, El Salvador. They lead the five-team El Salvador Premiere League with a record of 10-3-4.
El Salvador soccer was rocked last October when 14 top national club players were suspended in connection with a 2010 international game-fixing incident.
“We have to prepare mentally for this Champions League game,” midfielder Patrice Bernier told his team's website. “We are in a tough spot and we hope the fans will come out and support us. We need their help to get out of this."
The squad was not in a festive mood following their loss Sunday.
“Right now, there are a lot of emotions,” Head Coach Frank Klopas told the team's website. “From an energy standpoint, we weren’t there. We felt we would be fresh because we didn’t over do it in practice, but we were flat. e can’t put our finger on it now. Our reaction was not good.”
“I don’t want to make any excuses for today,” said Patrice Bernier. “This was derby game against Toronto. I understand that not everyone understands the rivalry, but we should have been more up for this one. We didn’t answer the bell tonight ”
One encouraging note was the play of Anthony Jackson-Hamel, another Academy product who played 25 minutes in his first MLS action.
The Quebec City-born Jackson-Hamel, who turned 21 Sunday, replaced forward Santiago Gonzalez who was loaned back to his native Uruguay with first division side Danubio F.C.
Jackson-Hamel looked sharp with his crosses and managed a shot on goal in his brief time on the pitch.
However Toronto scored early and never looked back, beating the rival Impact 2-0 at Saputo Stadium on Saturday for their first win in five league games, and first road win since April.
TFC manager Ryan Nelsen, whose team was coming off back-to-back losses against Sporting KC and D.C. United, knows just how important a win over a rival city can be.
"I've been on the wrong end of a few, and they don't feel good," said Nelsen. "It was nice to come into Montreal and get a win. They're a bit of a wounded animal, and they have some really dangerous players. They have a very good team and a very good coach who knows the league well.
"We're not celebrating — we didn't just win the Champions League. We'll tick the box, and we'll move on."
An early strike by Gilberto was all Toronto needed to cruise to victory on Saturday, before Luke Moore added an insurance goal for the visitors in the second half. With the win, TFC (8-7-5) leapfrogged the New England Revolution and now sit third in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Impact (3-13-5), meanwhile, have lost a franchise-high six games in a row. They've been in the Eastern Conference basement for four months.
Playing against the team they beat in the Amway Canadian Championship in early June did not give Montreal that much-needed spark.
Instead, the Impact chased much of the ball in the first half, and went to the dressing room at the interval without a shot on target. Montreal made fewer passes, won fewer duels and had less possession than TFC throughout the game. Montreal's three yellow cards were the product of late and frustrated tackles.
"I thought we would come out with more fire," said Impact captain Patrice Bernier. "It's a derby, and you're playing TFC. They were in a bad spell, and we're in a bad spell. We lost a lot of the battles, and we found our feet too late."
Montreal put up more of a fight in the second half, but none of its four shots on target could beat goalkeeper Joseph Bendik.
"I understand that not everybody understands the derby, but some guys have been here for three years," added Bernier. "You know how these games are intense and aggressive. It's frustrating and it's difficult."
Gilberto scored in the 11th minute when his shot from inside the 18-yard box rang off the crossbar and landed a foot across the goal-line. Impact goalie Troy Perkins smothered the ball, but the linesman confirmed it was a good goal.
Perkins got the start in net, his first match since July 12 when a defensive mistake in the game's final minute handed Sporting Kansas City the road victory. Backup 'keeper Evan Bush started between the uprights in the Impact's following three games — all losses.
Moore doubled Toronto's lead in the 54th minute, beating Perkins to a loose ball in front of the net for an easy tap-in. U.S. international Michael Bradley got the play going when his stunning through ball from deep in his own half found a streaking Dominic Oduro. Impact defender Krzysztof Krol blocked Oduro's shot, but the ball fell right into Moore's path.
-With files from The Canadian Press
