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Toronto FC beats Montreal Impact 5-2 in epic MLS Eastern Conference Final, 7-5 on aggregate

Jozy Altidore
Altidore scored Toronto’s second goal to give TFC a 2-1 halftime lead. (Getty Images)

After 210 pulsating minutes and a dozen goals, the Eastern Conference final of the Major League Soccer playoffs finally produced a winner in the heated battle of Canadian clubs Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact.

At long last, TFC prevailed 5-2 in extra time – 7-5 on aggregate – to reach its first-ever MLS Cup.

This series will surely be remembered as a classic. As you’ll recall, in the first leg in Montreal, the home side took a lightning-quick 2-0 lead and went up 3-0 after halftime. But then Toronto got two goals back to make the return leg competitive.

But if the first match was captivating, the second was edge-of-your-seat stuff. In the lashing rain and in front of an electric crowd of 35,000, the sides played to another 3-2 regular-time result. Only this time around, Toronto edged it. Sending the game to extra time.

As a description, however, the above falls hopelessly short. Because Montreal twice bagged a possibly insurmountable away goal, but then Toronto twice overcame that with goals of its own that changed the potential outcome of the series.

Toronto made an assertive start to the game, rattling Montreal and its typically unshakable organization with the organized aggression.

Yet it was Montreal that once again took the lead. In the 25th minute, Dominic Oduro bagged the first goal for a second time in this series. Matteo Mancuso dragged a handful of TFC defenders with him on a run before he fed his fellow forward, who scored with a clean finish.

That seemed to put the Impact firmly in control, as the Reds now needed a pair of goals to advance.

TFC would get them before halftime, though. In the 37th minute, Nick Hagglund won a header off a corner. His effort was blocked but not cleared and Armando Cooper poked it home.

Then, on the brink of halftime, Sebastian Giovinco, who had badly miss-hit several set pieces earlier, served up a corner to the near post where Jozy Altidore nodded it on beautifully for his fifth goal in five games in these playoffs – to go with his three assists.

But the Impact weren’t done. Shortly after the break, Johan Venegas found Ignacio Piatti, who held off several defenders and managed to send the ball trickling over the line. Oduro appeared to be offside on the play and seemed to be preventing Steven Beitashour from clearing it off the line. Closer inspection, however, revealed that the ball had deflected off Hagglund, rendering Oduro onside.

Advantage: Montreal.

But TFC would come back yet again. In the 68th minute, a short corner made its way to Justin Morrow, who swung to the wide-open Hagglund to head it past Evan Bush.

And so this epic series would necessitate another half an hour of incessant drama.

Just five minutes into extra time, Giovinco had to come off with a cramp. He was replaced by Benoit Cheyrou. Not two minutes later, the Frenchman got his head onto the end of a deep cross from Beitashour to make it 4-2 – and, as it turned out, send his team to the final.

Then, on the very next attack, Altidore made a grand play, holding up the ball, turning his man and hitting a low cross to Tosaint Ricketts. The Canadian forward managed to slide and scramble it over the line for a 5-2 advantage and a dumbfounding 7-5 cushion on aggregate.

At last, Toronto’s long, slow, multi-installment comeback was complete and the series was out of reach. And when the whistle blew after a late assault by the Impact, one of the most tortured clubs in the league finally came good.

Toronto FC is the first Canadian team to reach MLS Cup, where it will will host fellow debutants Seattle Sounders at BMO Field on Saturday, Dec. 10, marking the first time none of the league’s 10 original clubs are in the final.