Former Harambee Stars skipper Victor Wanyama had all eyes on him when his side, Montreal Impact won the prestigious Canadian Championship title on November 21st 2021.
Montreal cruised through a hotly contested match that saw them win 1-0 against Toronto FC. Montreal dominated play but had to wait until Romell Quioto’s 72nd-minute goal to defend its Canadian Championship title. The Honduran forward, put behind the defence by a looping high ball from Rudy Camacho from inside his own half, chipped goalkeeper Quentin Westberg on Montreal’s 21st shot of the afternoon.
This season, Wanyama has been an integral part of the Montreal Impact squad, making a total of 27 appearances and an impressive 2365 minutes. Notably, he has made the starting line up in all 27 appearances for his side, only being subbed off on three occasions. In terms of goals, the robust midfielder scored twice in the 2021 season, matching his tally in his maiden season in the league.
Quioto had tormented the TFC defence all day. Montreal hoisted the Voyageurs Cup, as it did after a penalty shootout win over TFC in 2019, while earning a berth in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, winning US$75,000 (Ksh 7.5M) and bragging rights.
Until the final seconds, Sunday's game was one-way traffic. Montreal outshot Toronto 23-4 (9-0 in shots on target), had a 10-1 edge in corners and 57 per cent possession. Quioto, with six shots including four on target, provided more offence than the entire TFC team and could have scored a hat trick had it not been for Westberg.
Montreal coach Wilfried Nancy told his players at halftime a goal would come if they kept playing that way. After missing many much simpler chances, they went ahead on a goal that came with a high degree of difficulty. "This is the story of our season," the coach said. "We should have scored earlier." However Nancy took pleasure in seeing his team dominate at both ends of the field.
"I'm happy because we played the way we used to play, offensively and defensively," he said. "So I'm happy for the players." Toronto coach Javier Perez viewed the contest through rose-coloured glasses.
"We just lost focus on one play and we paid a price of the championship," he said.
Toronto had a chance to pull even in the 90th minute but Jordan Perruzza hit the goalpost after goalkeeper Sebastian Breza got a foot to a Toronto ball sent into the penalty box before fellow substitute Nick DeLeon got to it. Toronto's Ifunanyachi Achara fired the ball back in but Perruzza's shot struck the woodwork.
Toronto winger Jacob Shaffelburg, with one goal and three assists in three appearances, was named top young player.
The final was a consolation prize at the end of disappointing campaigns for both teams. Montreal (12-12-10) finished poorly, missing out on the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. The disappointment was deeper-rooted for Toronto (6-18-10), which was officially eliminated from post-season contention October 16th in a 2-0 loss to visiting Atlanta, although the writing had been on the wall for some time during a dismal campaign.
Montreal has won the title five times since 2008, compared to seven for Toronto.