2023 Canadian Championship — Quarter-final
Toronto FC vs. CF Montréal
May 9, 2023 at 7 p.m. ET
BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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BMO Field in Toronto will be the site of an all-MLS Canadian Championship quarter-final on Tuesday evening, as Toronto FC and CF Montréal renew acquaintances for the first time in 2023.

Arguably the fiercest rivalry in the country — these two sides have met many times in this competition over the years, although never this early on. They have met each other in five Canadian Championship finals since the competition’s inaugural title decider in 2008, which was won by les Québécois. After Montréal beat Toronto in the 2021 final, the Reds got their revenge last year in the semifinals — comfortably winning 4-0 at BMO Field. They would end up losing to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the final, however.

This is the first Canadian Championship match for TFC here in 2023 after receiving a bye to the quarter-finals, while Montréal had to play a preliminary round match. They faced League1 Ontario champions Vaughan SC in that match, beating them 2-0 at Stade Saputo on goals from former Valour FC loanee Sean Rea and teammate Sunusi Ibrahim.

RELATED READING: Vaughan SC hold their own, fall 2-0 to Sean Rea & CF Montréal

Although Montréal have picked up their form of late, winning all three league matches since beating Vaughan, both teams will likely see this as their best opportunity to lift a trophy this season, and earn a spot in the 2024 Concacaf Champions League. Montréal sits in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings, with twelve points (4-0-6) from ten matches. Toronto has an equal number of points (2-6-3), but has done so in eleven matches and is currently in 13th place.

Both teams are battling some injuries as well. Montréal’s captain Sam Piette, Jules Vilsaint, Mason Toye and Jojea Kwizera all missed out on the weekend with various leg injuries. Lassi Lappalainen and Romell Quioto both appeared off the bench but have also been dealing with injuries as of late. For Toronto FC it’s no better, with Michael Bradley, Jonathan Osorio, Victor Vazquez, Cristian Gutiérrez, Jordan Perruzza and Raoul Petretta all absent from the team that lost to New England.

The winner of this match will face a difficult test in the next round, with one of two Canadian Premier League foes up next. Forge FC host Atlético Ottawa at the same time on Tuesday night, with the winner advancing to play one of the two MLS sides. Forge, who beat Ottawa in the 2022 CPL final to win their third North Star Shield in four seasons, have nearly beaten both of these MLS teams before, taking both to penalties in recent years — including taking Toronto to penalties in the rescheduled 2020 CanChamp final at Tim Hortons Field last June, a match that they probably should have won in the 90.

This will be the first of two meetings between Toronto FC and CF Montréal this week, as they will play each other again on the weekend at Stade Saputo in MLS action.

All CPL and Canadian Championship matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Telus’ Optik TV (Channel 980) as well as online at OneSoccer.ca, through the OneSoccer app and on the fuboTV Canada platform.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Toronto turn to MLS veteran to boost scoring woes: Toronto FC have drawn six of their opening eleven matches this season, and won just twice, scoring thirteen goals in the process. Of their three losses, one of them came as a result of a capitulation in the final moments as DC United turned a 1-2 deficit into a 3-2 victory with goals in the 90th and 98th minutes, and three of those draws have come after being in winning positions. Their inability to put more goals on the board and turn more of those results into victories has plagued them, and they’re currently on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. To try and boost their attack, the club traded former Pacific FC defender Lukas MacNaughton and up to $200,000 in General Allocation Money to Nashville SC in exchange for veteran striker CJ Sapong. On his debut for what is his fifth MLS club, Sapong made an immediate impact, and scored the match-winner in a 1-0 victory over New York City FC. “It’s quite the whirlwind of a week, but the football, getting on the pitch, was the thing I was looking most forward to,” Sapong said to the club’s website after the match. “That’s the environment that I feel my most comfortable.” The Reds were held scoreless by the New England Revolution on the weekend, but Sapong and TFC’s star-studded attacking unit — which includes Italian superstars Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi — will look to use this cup game to make a statement about just how good they can be.

• CF Montréal in good form after preliminary round victory: The start of the 2023 Major League Soccer campaign couldn’t have gone much worse for a CF Montréal side looking to build on a 2022 season in which they nearly won the regular season title. After an exodus of several of their best players and head coach Wilfried Nancy, they started the season 1-0-6 before playing League1 Ontario side Vaughan SC in the preliminary round of this competition. They beat the Ontario champions 2-0 at Stade Saputo, sparking some life into a team that really had nothing going right at the time. Since that victory in the cup, CF Montréal have since won their next three MLS matches as well, by the same scoreline. Mathieu Choinière has been a big part of that, starting all three matches and providing two goals and an assist in that span as the club beat the New York Red Bulls, Sporting KC and Orlando City. They’ll look to keep that good form going, at the home of their biggest rival, on Tuesday.

• TFC looking to take advantage of home crowd: When it’s rocking, BMO Field is one of the best places anywhere in the country to watch a match. One occasion that people always show up for is derby day against CF Montréal — and with a spot in the Canadian Championship semifinals on the line, Toronto FC are hoping that their supporters rise to the occasion as well to give them an added boost. “A big part is the atmosphere,” said midfielder Brandon Servania when asked what the difference can be between regular matches and derbies. “The fans are cheering a little bit louder and there’s a little bit more bite in the tackles, so it’s fun in that way I think. I personally just like to take it as another game, knowing in the back of the mind that it is a rivalry and it’s going to be a little bit harder in those moments, but [I’m] just thinking of it as another game and trying to get the points like always.”

ALL-TIME SERIES

Toronto FC wins: 26 || CF Montréal wins: 20 || Draws: 10

Previous match:

September 4, 2022 — Toronto FC 3-4 CF Montréal