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Photo Credit: John Jacques
Inter Toronto 1-1 Supra: Hard-Fought Match Ends Level
By Neither Inter Toronto nor FC Supra du Quebec could be left satisfied after their match on Sunday. The sides drew 1-1 at York Lions Stadium in the final match of the Canadian Premier League matchweek.
For the first time in almost three months, the Nine Stripes celebrated a victory in their last fixture – a 4-3 defeat of HFX Wanderers. As such, coach Mauro Eustaquio maintained the same starting 11 as the last match.
For Supra, they were coming off a 3-2 midweek loss to Forge on the road. There were multiple changes made my Nick Razzaghi ahead of their second game in five days.
The visitors created the majority of the chances in the match, with captain David Choiniere involved quite regularly. The former Forge man had an effort in the 13th minute that is kept out by Ivan Pavela.
With what was their only shot on target in the game, Inter Toronto went in front about a minute later. Steffen Yeates’ miskick from outside of the box fell to Julian Altobelli, who slotted it past Joakim Milli to give the hosts the early advantage.
Supra had 10 attempts in the opening 45, with four on target. Choiniere was again involved towards the end of the period, but Pavela held firm to deny the winger.
Toronto put the ball in the back of the net once more after the restart, as Ariel Almagro’s cross found a marauding Altobelli. The striker made contact with Milli, who failed to hold onto the ball. However, the referee blew his whistle for a foul, leaving Supra relieved.
The visitors continued pressing for a goal, and once more Choiniere was the one with the chance. His shot from the middle of the box was straight at Pavela, keeping Inter in the lead.
Their relentless pressure was finally rewarded at the hour mark, when Diyaeddine Abzi’s cross was controlled by Choiniere and finished by Loic Kwemi. That was his eighth on the season, putting the former Valour man back in front in the CPL Golden Boot race.
The momentum was fully with the side from Quebec, and they nearly took the lead a few minutes later. Kwemi went for goal from distance with a powerful strike. The ball looked set to arrow into the top corner before Pavela dove to his right to make a remarkable stop.
Going into the final 20 minutes, Supra kept pushing for a goal to go in front. A shot from Choiniere – his sixth of the match – forced another save from Pavela as the youngster had a fine performance for the Nine Stripes.
A deflected shot moments later forced another save from 21-year-old, who parried the shot wide of his goal. By the end of the game, Supra had 22 attempts in comparison to Inter’s six.
The match ended 11 vs 10 in Toronto’s favour as Abzi, formerly of the Nine Stripes, came in hard on Pavela in stoppage time. Already on a yellow card, the referee showed no hesitation in sending off the fullback as both teams had a small scuffle due to the heavy challenge.
Neither team could find a winner on the day, resulting in a share of the points. Inter stays second from bottom on 18 points from 16 games. They have played the fewest matches in the league. Next for them will be a trip to the national capital to face Atletico Ottawa.
As for Supra, now winless in five across all competitions, they are still in sixth spot. Left eight points behind Vancouver FC for the final playoff berth, the Quebecois side will return home for the first of two straight matches against Forge: one coming in the league, the other in the Canadian Championship.
Header Image Photo Credit: John Jacques
