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<\/p>\nMontreal (4-8-3) put in the better showing of the two rival sides but still settled for a single point despite dominating the shot count 15-7 \u2014 including 3-0 on target \u2014 at Stade Saputo.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
Hennadiy Synchuk was dangerous down the right flank all night, though he failed to finish on a handful of opportunities, especially in the first half.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian international later created Montreal\u2019s best chance in the 66th minute, yet Gavran denied his blistering strike from the right side of the box.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re good in quantity, we\u2019re not good in quality at all. And for me, it cost us two points today, this lack of aggressiveness on the ball when we get into the final third,\u201d Montreal interim coach Philippe Eullaffroy said. \u201cWe had already identified this problem and today it was very visible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a sadness of having missed two points. I think for the players it\u2019s the same thing. There\u2019s a feeling that we should have done better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Toronto (3-6-6) hasn\u2019t won a match since April 4 at home against Colorado \u2014 a run of 10 games.<\/p>\n
Fraser\u2019s squad barely threatened in Montreal\u2019s half and failed to register a shot on target on an easy night for keeper Thomas Gillier.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was kind of a messy game. No real rhythm either way,\u201d Fraser said. \u201cThe connections weren\u2019t as sharp as we would like them to be. <\/p>\n
\u201cOverall it just was not a really precisely executed game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Montreal bounced back from a historically poor 1-7-0 start to the MLS season under since-fired head coach Marco Donaldel. Eullaffroy took over on an interim basis and helped settle the club heading into the summer hiatus.<\/p>\n
The MLS club is also heading to the Canadian championship semifinals after a pair of 2-1 victories over Canadian Premier League side Vancouver FC last week. Montreal will face the Vancouver Whitecaps in the final four.<\/p>\n
The home side appeared determined to continue its momentum Thursday.<\/p>\n
Synchuk, with striker Prince Owusu serving a one-game ban for yellow card accumulation, looked particularly engaged. He tested Gavran in the first minute, controlling a pass in the penalty area and striking a half-volley into the TFC keeper\u2019s legs.<\/p>\n
Minutes later, Synchuk juked defender Jackson Gilman between his legs before sailing the ball high. The 20-year-old winger then sent a weak-footed shot wide from inside the box following a setup from Noah Streit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been several matches like that: we have good opportunities at the beginning of the match and we are not clinical at all,\u201d Eullaffroy said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t have a shot, so you also have to see the good side. We contained them well on the defensive side.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you want to win, what matters most is to score more than the opponent, and today we didn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither side generated much in a sleepy start to the second half until Gavran thwarted Synchuk\u2019s strong strike in the 66th minute.<\/p>\n
Synchuk missed another opportunity on the ensuing corner when the ball fell to his feet in the penalty area. He dribbled around a defender but couldn\u2019t get the ball past defender Alonso Coello.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to win before the game and I guess everybody felt that we were supposed to win this game,\u201d Synchuk said. \u201cWe played way better and we were disappointed with the result.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I want to score,\u201d he added. \u201cBut it didn\u2019t happen. I hope I saved it for the next games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former star Montreal attacking midfielder Djordje Mihailovic entered for Toronto in the 74th minute, marking his first appearance since being diagnosed with a pelvic stress fracture in April.<\/p>\n
The substitution did not immediately rally TFC, however, with Gavran forced to stop Daniel Rios\u2019s shot from outside the box three minutes later.<\/p>\n
In one late chance for Toronto, Daniel Salloi missed his right-footed shot wide right from outside the box.<\/p>\n
The matchup turned physical at times between the two rival sides trying to climb into the Eastern Conference playoff picture. TFC midfielder Richie Laryea, in his first match since playing for Canada at the World Cup, shoved Montreal\u2019s Victor Loturi to the ground following a challenge in the 14th minute.<\/p>\n
UP NEXT<\/p>\n
Montreal: Visits Nashville SC on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Toronto: Visits New England Revolution on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2026.<\/p>\n
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montreal (4-8-3) put in the better showing of the two rival sides but still settled for a single…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-807471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}