May 23, 2012 8:00 PM EDT
BMO Field — Toronto, Ontario
Referee: S. Petrescu
Attendance: 13777
Toronto 1-0 Vancouver: TFC wins Canadian Championship
Toronto FC defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 Wednesday at BMO Field, winning the two-leg Canadian Championship 2-1 on aggregate to claim its fourth consecutive Voyageurs Cup.
By Martin MacMahon
Make it four Canadian Championship titles in a row.
Toronto FC defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 at BMO Field Wednesday night through an 83rd minute goal from Reggie Lambe to capture the Voyageurs Cup once again, to win the two-leg tie 2-1 on aggregate.
The Reds didn’t need Lambe’s goal to win the two-leg tie after scoring an away goal during the 1-1 draw in the first leg at BC Place last week, but on the night the midfielder’s strike won the match.
The Whitecaps had the slight edge in play in the first half, with 51.6 percent possession, in what was a physical start to the match.
The first notable clash came between Adrian Cann and Eric Hassli within the first two minutes, with defender sending the Frenchman to the grass holding his head. The two went on to collide a number of times throughout the half.
In the 7th minute Torsten Frings found Joao Plata with a cross. The Ecuadorean managed to sneak in behind Lee Young-Pyo, but his weak header across Joe Cannon’s goal glanced off the post.
On 22 minutes, Camilo hit a curling free kick, which Alain Rochat got on the end of, but the Swiss-Canadian’s effort went well wide to the left of Milos Kocic’s goal.
In the 36th minute, Frings struck a ball from a set-piece outside of the area generated by Plata, just missing to the right of Cannon’s goal with a low driven effort.
In the 56th minute the first real piece of drama occurred, as Cannon quickly adjusted his feet to stop a deflected shot from Frings. The fans at BMO Field reacted, thinking the ball had crossed the line, but the match officials said no goal.
Seconds later there was a scuffle involving Sebstien Le Toux, who appeared to stamp on a Toronto player before being shoved down by Julian de Guzman. In the ensuing skirmish, de Guzman slapped Jun Marques Davidson in the face, and the Japanese-American went down very easily.
Referee Silviu Petrescu reached into his back pocket, sending de Guzman off, and then gave Le Toux a second yellow, meaning both teams were reduced to 10 men.
With nine minutes to play, Nick Soolsma must have thought he’d won it, banging in a driven cross from Richard Eckersley, but the play was called offside.
In the 83rd minute, Lambe scored the game winner, striking a shot after Nick Soolsma knocked it back to him.
With the championship win, Toronto FC will now represent Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Goal
Own Goal
Penalty
Penalty Missed
Yellow Card
Assist
Penalty Save
Penalty Shootout Goal
Penalty Shootout Miss
Yellow Card / Red Card
Red Card
Substitution IN
Substitution OUT
Injury
Goal.com Rating
Goal.com Man of the Match
Goal.com Flop of the Match
Top & Flop Global Ranking
Fans' Man of the Match
Fans' Flop of the Match
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Camilo Da Silva Sanvezzo Striker Vancouver |
3 | 0 |
|
|
Marco Di Vaio Striker Montreal Impact |
2 | 0 |
|
|
Justin Mapp Midfielder Montreal Impact |
1 | 0 |
|
|
Daniele Paponi Striker Montreal Impact |
1 | 0 |
|
|
Hassoun Camara Defender Montreal Impact |
1 | 0 |
