Toronto FC choke away three points, Montreal and Vancouver lose

The 2023 MLS season got underway

The opening Major League Soccer weekend could have not been any rougher as all three Canadian clubs lost in their 2023 season opening matches. Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps kissed away three valuable points in their fixtures that saw them leading at some point in their match, only to walk away empty handed.

MLS weekend saw some wild finishes with Toronto FC against DC United falling under that category. After trailing1-0 early in the match, Toronto FC star player Lorenzo Insigne went down with an injury — the first 45 minutes of 2023 could not have gone any worse than it did.

DC United 3-2 Toronto FC

TFC’s other Italian international, Federico Bernardeschi, capitalized from the penalty spot to tie things up, then in the 83rd minute, Mark-Anthony Kate gave The Reds a 2-1 lead putting the club in pole position to grab all three points on the road.

Once the clock hit 90 is when things went sideways for TFC and DC United rallied behind. Belgium international Christian Benteke bagged his first of the campaign in stoppage time, tying the game at two a piece. At the death, 98th minute substitute Theodore Ku-DiPietro opened up his MLS account bagging his first career goal, helping DC United complete their unreal comeback in front of the home faithful at Audi Field.

Inter Miami CF 2-0 CF Montreal

Inter Miami FC earned their first ever victory over CF Montreal on Saturday, cruising to a 2-0 win in front of 17.655 fans at DRV PNK Stadium.

CF Montreal were dealt a tough hand in 2023, losing head coach Wilfred Nancy to Columbus, and the club lost three key players in the winter transfer window, which showed in their opening match how much they missed them.

It was a match Miami never trailed and never looked back after Sergey Krivsov bagged his first MLS goal of his career in the 41st minute. Shanyder Borgelin put the final nail in the coffin finding the back of the net in the 76th minute, assuring Miami walked away with all three points.

Vancouver Whitecaps 1-2 Real Salt Lake

A new year and a new beginning for the Vancouver Whitecaps got off to a great opening 45 minutes as they were the team in control. Javain Brown headed in his second career MLS goal giving Vancouver the advantage in the 25th minute.

This was a classic case of a match of two halves. In the second frame, the visitors came out hot and their hard work paid off. RSL exploded for goals halfway through the second half. Justen Glad in the 70th minute and Damir Kreilach in the 73rd, both put away their opportunities, helping the away side collect all three points.

Up next

All three Canadian clubs are back in action in Matchday 2 in MLS, all on the road. March 4 will see Toronto FC visit Atlanta United, CF Montreal are in Austin and the Vancouver Whitecaps travel to No-Cal to take on the San Jose Earthquakes.