Montreal hangs on for 3-2 win over Toronto in MLS playoffs' East final first leg

Everything about the game was unexpected.

It took a while for the first all-Canadian Conference Championship in Major League Soccer history to get started. Weirdly, the game at the Montreal Impact’s Olympic Stadium, where it puts on the games that will draw the biggest crowds such as Tuesday’s 61,000 turnout, was delayed about 40 minutes because some lines were painted in the wrong place. So the old sidelines of one of the penalty areas had to be sprayed green and new ones drawn.

And when the game finally did get started, it seemed like the entire two-match tie had been decided within a dozen minutes. The Impact throttled Toronto FC early on, confounding the Reds again – like in last year’s Knockout Round match – by veering away from their typical counter-attacking style with an aggressive early push. A pair of goals before 12 minutes had been played seemed to wrap things up in what would be a 3-2 Montreal victory, considering the stinginess of the Impact’s defense in the playoffs.

First, Patrice Bernier hit a turn-around slide-rule pass into Dominic Oduro’s path as the winger pinched inside and darted through the back line. The Ghanaian forward finished well.

Then, Oduro picked up a bad clearance by Steven Beitashour, and found Pablo Piatti behind the right back. His low cross somehow reached the absurdly in-form Matteo Mancosu, who slipped through two defenders and hammered home his finish.

In the 53rd minute, left back Ambroise Oyongo seemed to compound the misery for TFC, probably ensuring that it would be a 10th year without getting any closer to an MLS Cup title, in spite of all that rabid support and the expensive players. He picked up a loose ball inside his own half, was allowed to run 50 yards and then sent a bobbling shot past Clint Irwin from outside the box.

It seemed that by that point, Toronto had already given up. Irwin’s feeble dive had the same energy as captain Michael Bradley’s half-hearted loping after the slow-moving play.

But Jozy Altidore got a goal back with a clever header in the 68th minute for the valuable away goal.

Five minutes later, Bradley finished off a lovely play in the box. Altidore perhaps committed a foul but won the ball back and squared it for Tosaint Ricketts, who laid it back for Bradley and his clean finish.

A tie that looked over with 168 minutes to play could now pivot on a single goal. After all, with its pair of away goals, Toronto will require just a lone unanswered score at home next Wednesday to complete the comeback and reach the club’s first MLS Cup.

Toronto is still alive. And the Impact faces the peril of somehow giving up a three-goal lead in its first-ever conference final.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.