Miami (AFP) – Former Juventus winger Federico Bernardeschi scored twice as Toronto FC romped to a 6-1 win at Canadian rivals Montreal in Major League Soccer on Saturday. Canadian forward Theo Corbeanu added a brace as Toronto took full advantage of the Eastern Conference’s bottom club being reduced to 10 men in the 21st minute when Joel Waterman was sent off. Toronto were 1-0 up at that point thanks to a fine breakaway goal from Trinidad international Tyrese Spicer. Waterman was shown a straight red card for his late, lunging challenge to bring down Norwegian Ola Brynhildsen who was surging goalwards, and from then on it was one-way traffic.
Bernardeschi doubled the lead in the 30th minute with a confident right-foot finish, and then Brynhildsen made it 3-0 with a tap-in after good work from Maxime Dominguez. Montreal hit the woodwork twice before half-time, but Toronto put the game beyond any doubt when Bernardeschi produced a superb solo strike into the far corner to make it four. After Montreal pulled a goal back through their Italian-Albanian striker Giacomo Vrioni, substitute Corbeanu’s twin strikes completed the rout.
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“Obviously, this is a tough place to play, a big rival, and I thought the performance was very mature, very composed, and through some good patient play we were able to find some really good opportunities,” said Toronto head coach Robin Fraser. “Make no mistake, to go down a man early put Montreal in a very, very difficult situation. But as we’ve all seen at some point, just being a man up doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have success.” Fede (Bernardeschi) was so dangerous almost every time he touched it,” he added.
New York City enjoyed a 2-0 derby win at Citi Field against the New York Red Bulls, taking the lead in the 13th minute thanks to a brilliant long-range effort from Alonso Martinez. Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel made an awful error in the 50th minute to gift the ball to Martinez on the edge of the box, and he fed Maxi Moralez who shot into the unguarded goal.
In the Ohio derby, Columbus Crew fought back for a 1-1 draw at home to FC Cincinnati but left disappointed not to have taken all three points. In-form striker Kevin Denkey put the visitors ahead from close range in the sixth minute, but the Crew drew level with a 54th-minute penalty from Diego Rossi after Nick Hagglund was ruled to have handled in the box. Columbus piled on the pressure in the latter stages, but Cincinnati’s back-line held firm with goalkeeper Roman Celentano making a series of excellent saves.
The draw allowed the Philadelphia Union to take over at the top of the Eastern Conference, leapfrogging Cincinnati with a 1-0 win at struggling Atlanta. Israeli Tai Baribo’s 59th-minute penalty, a league-leading 11th of the season, secured the win for Philadelphia and condemned Atalanta to their eighth straight game without a win. Gregg Berhalter’s Chicago Fire enjoyed a 4-1 win at Charlotte, with talented American prospect Brian Gutierrez scoring twice in the victory.
Minnesota United, second in the West, continued their impressive campaign with a 3-0 win over St. Louis, with former Inter Miami midfielder Julian Gressel scoring his first goal for the club. USA international Jack McGlynn offered another reminder of his powerful left foot with a 20-yard screamer to put Houston ahead in the Texas derby at Dallas, with a thundering Griffin Dorsey finish completing a 2-0 win.
In the Cascadia derby, Albert Rusnak put the Seattle Sounders ahead in the 30th minute at Portland, before Santiago Moreno leveled for the Timbers six minutes later in a 1-1 draw. ‘Rivalry weekend’ continues on Sunday with Inter Miami hosting Orlando City and the ‘El Trafico’ clash between struggling Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC.
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