Akinola’s hat trick lifts Toronto FC over Montreal

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. • Ayo Akinola scored three goals and Toronto FC beat Canadian rival Montreal 4-3 on Thursday night in the MLS is Back tournament

Akinola leads all players in the tournament with five goals.

The teams combined for five goals in the opening half of the wild game played without fans at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World. Saphir Taider converted two penalty kicks for the Impact.

Richie Laryea gave Toronto the early lead with a hard shot to the far post as Montreal’s defending sputtered. Laryea, a defender, was playing for Justin Morrow, who was held out of the game with Achilles tendinitis.

Montreal drew even in the 14th minute when Romell Quioto out-dashed defender Omar Gonzalez to beat Toronto goalkeeper Quentin Westberg one-on-one.

The Reds got back the lead on Akinola’s goal in the 25th minute. Pablo Piatti fed the ball to Alejandro Pozuelo, who crossed it to Akinola for the tap-in goal.

Taider converted his first penalty to pull the Impact into a 2-all tie, but moments later Akinola scored his second goal to put the Reds back in front.

Akinola’s third goal came in the 83rd minute. Clement Diop rushed toward him but Akinola jumped to avoid the goalkeeper and score. It was the first hat track in the series between the two teams.

Taider got his second PK in stoppage time for the final margin.

Akinola, a Homegrown Player in his third year, scored twice in Toronto’s tournament opener, a 2-2 draw with D.C. United.

The Reds were without forward Jozy Altidore for the second straight game. Altidore had just returned to full team training on July 3 after a 14-day quarantine in Canada. He trained in the United States during the league shutdown.

Cincinnati a 1, Atlanta 0 • Frankie Amaya scored his first career Major League Soccer goal in the 76th minute to give Cincinnati a victory over Atlanta United on Thursday in the MLS is Back tournament.

United was playing a player down after Jake Mulraney was sent off in the 26th minute with his second yellow card. Cincinnati struggled for much of the match to capitalize on the man advantage against the 2018 MLS Cup champions until Amaya’s goal.

The young midfielder’s left-footed shot from atop the penalty area sailed over the outstretched arm of Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Amaya, the first pick in the 2019 MLS draft, has played for the U.S. Under-20 team.

Cincinnati caught a break in first-half stoppage time when Atlanta appeared to win a penalty kick from a foul on Ezequiel Barco, but it was overturned by an offside call after video review.

Both teams entered the game with losses in the MLS is Back tournament. United fell 1-0 to the Red Bulls, while Cincinnati was routed 4-0 by Columbus.

Columbus 2, NY Red Bulls 0 • Gyasi Zardes scored in the 22nd minute and Lucas Zelarayan scored in the 47th to give the Crew a 2-0 victory.