Montreal Impact defender Wandrille Lefevre knocks the ball away from Toronto FC forward Luke Moore.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
Jack McInerney scored in the 68th minute as the Montreal Impact downed Toronto FC 1-0 in the first leg of their Amway Canadian Championship semifinal on Wednesday night.
McInerney had just missed a chance when he was in alone on Chris Konopka, but a minute later he was at the far post to bang in Nigel Reo-Coker's cross from the right side.
The second leg of the two-game, aggregate-goals series is May 13 in Toronto.
Looking to pad the lead, Impact coach Frank Klopas sent top midfielders Ignacio Piatti and Dilly Duka in as substitutes after 70 minutes but the TFC defence held.
It was a different scene from a week ago when the Impact played in the CONCACAF Champions League final at Olympic Stadium before 61,004. Saputo Stadium was mostly empty, although much of that was due to going head to head with Game 3 of the Montreal Canadiens playoff series in Tampa Bay.
The first half saw slow, uneventful play on both sides, with Toronto staying back and playing for counter attacks and Montreal unable to break through.
Toronto's Jonathan Osorio had the first real chance 15 minutes in but put his shot well wide.
Late in the first half, Montreal moved Dominic Oduro up to forward from the right flank and it produced two scoring chances, both hit wide by the Ghanaian.
Toronto captain Michael Bradley, the best player on the field for either side until he was subbed out in the 74th minute, had a free kick from 25 yards out saved by a diving Eric Kronberg in the 59th.
The Canadian Championship winner will play in the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League. The Impact won it three times, including the last two — one fewer than TFC. Montreal beat Toronto 2-1 in last year's final.
Notes: TFC dressed three regulars, Michael Bradley, Nick Hagglund and Justin Morrow. Stars Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco were not with the team.