CF Montreal defeats TFC in Canadian Championship penalty shootout
CF Montreal finally had something to celebrate Wednesday, defeating Toronto FC in a penalty shootout in Telus Canadian Championship preliminary-round play.
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Goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois was the hero, stopping Tyrese Spicer and Ola Brynhildsen as Montreal won the shootout 3-2.
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Kobe Franklin and Alonso Coello scored for Toronto in the shootout. Theo Corbeanu ballooned his kick over the crossbar.
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Joel Waterman, Dante Sealy and Dominic Iankov scored for Montreal. Tom Pearce also fired high.
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The game went to the shootout after it finished deadlocked at 2-2 in regulation time, thanks to Montreal substitute Giacomi Vrioni's spectacular goal in the 88th minute. The Italian-born Albanian international forward, a designated player who had seen just 22 minutes of action previously this season, went airborne in volleying a cross past Luka Gavran.
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Corbeanu scored and set up a goal by Spicer for Toronto, which led 1-0 and 2-1.
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Waterman also scored for Montreal, which at 0-7-3 has yet to win in MLS play in 2025. Toronto, at 1-5-4, isn't much better but had gone unbeaten in four games (1-0-3) prior to its weekend 1-0 loss to visiting New York City FC.
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Montreal had not won a game since Oct. 19 when it blanked visiting NYCFC 2-0 in league play. It has been outscored 14-4 in MLS play this season and came into the game scoreless in its last three outings.
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With Toronto depleted in attack due to injury, Corbeanu's offence was timely.
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The shifty winger put Toronto ahead in the 29th minute, coming off his wing and leaving Waterman in his wake before hitting a shot that deflected off Samuel Piette and looped over Sirois. The goal was better than the celebration, which saw Corbeanu fall over trying to slide on his knees toward the corner flag in front of a crowd of 20,265 at BMO Field.
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