ORLANDO, Florida – The Montreal Impact played its first preseason game versus the New York Red Bulls, on Thursday morning, losing 2-0, 2-0 and 1-0 in the three 45-minute periods even though they showed encouraging signs.
“I’m generally pleased with what I saw,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “For the most part, we had them unbalanced. All that was missing was the finishing. In terms of the play, possession and creating chances, I think we were better. They capitalized on their chances, but in terms of the level, we were good, except for a couple lapses that lead to goals.”
Despite the advantage of possession and play for the Impact in the first period, Red Bulls’ striker Bradley Wright-Phillips took advantage of two missteps to score his brace.
“We started the game really well and had a lot of chances, but we weren’t as efficient,” said Patrice Bernier. “They’ve already played four games, while this was our first, and it showed. We will continue to progress to be ready for the start of the season.”
The second period ended with the same score as the first, but in this one, the Bleu-blanc-noir rebounded from a pressure-filled first 10 minutes to close out strong and create some good chances.
The final period saw a strong showing from a number of youngsters, including some hard tackles by FC Montreal’s Thomas Meilleur-Giguère on the backline and some craftiness from 2016 SuperDraft pick Michael Salazar in front of goal.
“Even with a lot of young players in the third game, we created chances,” added Biello. “Now, we continue our work.”
The Bleu-blanc-noir will return to Montreal on Friday and continue training camp at Olympic Stadium all next week, before playing a friendly against FC Montreal on Saturday, February 13.
The team will then return to Florida to take part in the Tampa Bay Rowdies Suncoast Invitational, in St. Petersburg, from February 15 to 28, playing four games against New York City FC, D.C. United, Toronto FC, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
The Montreal Impact will play its opening match of the 2016 season in Montreal on Saturday, March 12, at Olympic Stadium against the defending regular season champions New York Red Bulls. The Impact plays its season opener the previous Sunday, March 6, against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place, at 5:30pm ET (RDS, TSN).
