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Didier Drogba's Montreal adventure came to its final-final end Wednesday night — last week, both the team and Drogba had basically confirmed the news that he'd be leaving at the end of the season — as Montreal Impact lost to Toronto FC in the MLS Cup semifinals 7-5 on aggregate. No, that's not a typo. It is however a new MLS record for an aggregate scoreline in the playoffs with 12 total goals scored.
Montreal had come into the game holding a slim 3-2 lead from the first leg and had even taken the lead in the 24th minute. Then, after Toronto scored twice later in the first half, Montreal had the lead on aggregate again just nine minutes into the second half, only for Toronto to score again halfway through the half. Regulation finished 3-2 to Toronto and thus 5-5 on aggregate. In extra time, Toronto scored twice more in quick succession to win 5-2, 7-5 on aggregate, and advance to the MLS Cup final where they will face the Seattle Sounders.
Drogba had arrived onto the scene as a second-half substitute, registering one shot from a free kick. Last year he had single-handedly dragged Montreal into the playoffs, but the team this year was a lot stronger and a lot more balanced and needed to rely less and less on Didier.
But while he could not deliver a trophy to Montreal as he delivered trophies to Chelsea in his two final seasons at the club, he's confident that the future in Montreal is bright.
Cette équipe n'a pas finit de grandir et d'impressionner!!! Merci à tous ceux qui m'ont soutenu, merci au peuple Montréalais
— Didier Drogba (@didierdrogba) December 1, 2016
As he waved goodbye, Drogba also said that he was proud of his teammates and to have worn the colors of Montreal. What may be next for the legend of world football, we shall just have to wait and see...
Fiers d'avoir porté les couleurs de cette ville fiers de mes coéquipiers, on y a cru mais ce match on le perd à l'aller @impactmontreal
— Didier Drogba (@didierdrogba) December 1, 2016