The next week or so is going to be a tremendous time to be a sports fan in Toronto. The Grey Cup is going to be played at BMO Field on Sunday, and because of that, the second leg of the Eastern Conference Finals will be played on Wednesday. Toronto FC looked dead in the water after allowing three goals relatively early against the Montreal Impact, but it fought back, knocked home two goals late on and now have everything left to play for on Wednesday night with a spot in the MLS Cup up for grabs.
This MLS duel will go down Wednesday, November 30, 2016, at 7 p.m. ET at BMO Field. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Toronto FC -175
Montreal Impact +375
Draw +295
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
The Reds were actually near to 6 to 1 to advance into the MLS Cup when they were down 3-0 to Montreal, but the fact that they pulled two goals back now makes them the overwhelming favorites to go through. Obviously, TFC has to win this match in 90 minutes to go through, and a -175 price on the moneyline suggests that it's likely to do just that.
It's really hard to see how the Impact can lose this match and still go into the MLS Cup. They would have to ultimately score two goals and lose 3-2, then go into extra time and win there, or they would have to score three times or more and lose by just one goal. The likelihood of that happening is thin to say the least, so Montreal has to realize that a draw or better is the only logical acceptable result to keep its season alive.
The First Leg
This has been a bizarre series already, and it reached that high before it event started. The lines on the field were painted incorrectly in the goal boxes on both sides of the field, a problem that was realized just minutes before the match was scheduled to start. As a result, the start of the fixture was delayed.
Montreal though, was never off of its game. Dominic Oduro was the first star of the night for the Impact, scoring 10 minutes in, and just two minutes later, he was at it again, creating the initial pass that ultimately sprung Matteo Mancosu into the box for the second goal.
Ambroise Oyongo scored on 53 minutes, and it looked like the romp was on from there, but TFC never gave it up and was always in the equation.
If you're an Impact fan, you have to like the fact that you're ahead from here, and you can take some solace in the fact that the first of TFC's goals was a bit fluky. But Jozy Altidore was a man on a mission just five minutes later, creating the setup for Michael Bradley to score to make it 3-2. The Reds nearly drew level at the death as well, but their last ditch efforts scraped wide of the goal and kept this one in a boiler heading into this second match.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
The Reds had a fantastic defense all season long at BMO Field, and it's hard to see how Montreal can manage to score once, let alone twice. The Impact might have scored three times, but they're very much so going to regret their lackluster last half hour in which it looked like they were merely playing to not lose.
Now comes the punishment. Between Altidore, Bradley and Sebastian Giovinco, there's just too much offensive firepower for the Impact to stop. It's only going to take one goal to get the job done, but we think the Reds will double their tally in the early going and not make the same mistake Montreal made at the Big O last week.
MLS Odds: Toronto FC 2, Montreal 0
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