MONTREAL (AP) — Alejandro Pozuelo scored on a penalty kick the 50th minute and Toronto FC beat the Montreal Impact 1-0 on Friday night to take the Eastern Conference lead.
Toronto was awarded the penalty shot when Emanuel Maciel handled the ball in the box. Pozuelo slotted the ball into the bottom right corner, with Clement Diop diving the wrong way.
Toronto extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games, dating to last season. It is the second-longest streak in Major League Soccer history. Toronto (5-0-3) can tie the record when it faces Montreal (3-3-1) at home Tuesday night.
The game was the first in MLS since five of six matches were postponed Wednesday night in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. Players wore “Black Lives Matter” shirts in the pregame warmup and took a knee in a moment of reflection before the opening whistle. Most players knelt during the anthem.
For the second straight Montreal game there were 250 supporters in the stands at 20,801-seat Saputo Stadium, the maximum allowed by Quebec’s department of public health.
