Montreal Impact face elimination in Canadian Championship
The Montreal Impact trail Toronto FC 4-2 heading into leg two of the semi finals
If the Montreal Impact hope to make it back to the CONCACAF Champions League, the team is going to have to overcome a two goal deficit on home soil.
The Impact host Toronto FC in the second leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal at Saputo Stadium Wednesday night.
A week ago, Montreal lost leg one by a score of 4-2 in Toronto.
The winner of this series will play for the Voyageurs Cup and the title of Canadian Champions against the winner of the Ottawa Fury–Vancouver Whitecaps series.
'This is huge'
In the first leg, Montreal delivered a dismal performance that was lowlighted by a sluggish start and several costly defensive errors that Toronto pounced on.
"Taking four goals is tough but we got bailed out at the end there. Two goals puts us right back in it and they're away goals so they're worth more," said Impact goalkeeper Eric Kronberg after practice Tuesday.
"This is huge, it's huge for us," said Impact head coach Mauro Biello "We know what this brings. We were at the final of the Champions League (in 2015); every single player knows the importance of this game."
Winning the Canadian Championship is the only path to the CONCACAF Champions League for Canadian clubs.
Defensive Reinforcements Arrive
The Impact defence will get a boost for Wednesday's game with two starters returning to the line up.
Ambroise Oyongo is back after missing leg one due to international duty with Cameroon and Victor Cabrera is back after being out with a calf injury.
But while the back line is improved, it still won't be at full strength.
Montreal is without Laurent Ciman who is with Team Belgium for the Euros and Donny Toia is out with an injury.
Offensively, Montreal will be down its top scorer Ignacio Piatti, who is recovering from hand surgery.
Kick off tonight is at 7:30 p.m. at Saputo Stadium