MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact had to admit defeat by the score of 3-1 against New England Revolution, on Saturday night in front of 20,801 spectators at Stade Saputo. Kei Kamara, at the first minute, and a Kelyn Rowe brace caused the ninth defeat of the season for the Bleu-blanc-noir. Didier Drogba, with a penalty, provided Montreal’s only response.
The Impact’s defense was put to the test as early as the 25th second. Agudelo, holding the ball on the right wing, beat the defender before using Rowe’s support, who crossed first time towards a free Kei Kamara in the box. His downward header beat Evan Bush at the far post, which was the fastest goal scored against the Impact in the MLS era.
“It keeps going, especially at home,” said Montreal Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We can see the fragility of the team here. Obviously, getting scored on after only 30 seconds is not normal. It starts to play in your head. We did not execute defensively, we did not mark properly.”
Even with the early deficit, the Bleu-blanc-noir strike force created good scoring chances for itself in the following minutes. Drogba, Piatti and Camara were all able to shoot towards Knighton’s goal, without being able to hit the target.
The lack of opportunism was to become costly in the 27th minute. Kamara, on the right, passed the ball to Kelyn Rowe at the top of the box. The latter did not hesitate to send a precise strike on the inside of Bush’s post and the ball finished its course in the net.
In the beginning of the second half, the Impact squad was going to be rewarded for its efforts. From about 20 metres, Harry Shipp shot his half-volley towards the Revs’ goal. Instinctively, Woodberry lifted his arms to block the ball in the box, leaving referee Allen Chapman no choice but to whistle a penalty in the 49th minute. Drogba made no mistake and dispatched the penalty with confidence.
Piatti had the chance to level the score in the 56th minute, thanks to great combination play with Drogba. With the old one-two, Piatti passed to Drogba who used his heel to nutmeg a New England defender and sent Piatti through against the Revs’ keeper. But the Argentine midfielder sent his left-footed shot over the bar.
A few moments later, at the other end of the pitch, the Revs took back their two-goal lead. On a short corner, Tierney crossed towards Agudelo, but Bush beat him and punched the ball towards Rowe, who shot right away to make it 3-1 in the 58th minute.
“There are two ways to see it,” said Montreal Impact striker Didier Drogba. “Either we give up and play all our home games as if we’re away or we decide to change it. We need to try to change things and give a little bit more, push a little bit more and be more concentrated and focused as a team.”
Upcoming games
The Montreal Impact will face the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena next Saturday, September 24, at 7pm (TVA Sports, TSN 690). The next home game will take place on Wednesday, September 28, at 7:30pm against San Jose Earthquakes. Excellent individual tickets are still available for this game on impactmontreal.com.
LINEUPS
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Donny Toia (Victor Cabrera 46’), Hassoun Camara, Laurent Ciman, Ambroise Oyongo; M-Marco Donadel, Hernan Bernardello, Ignacio Piatti, Harry Shipp (Dominic Oduro 68’), Lucas Ontivero (Matteo Mancosu 60’); F-Didier Drogba
Subs not used – GK-Eric Kronberg; M-Patrice Bernier, Calum Mallace, David Choinière
NE – GK-Brad Knighton; D-Andrew Farrell, Chris Tierney, José Gonçalves, London Woodberry; M-Diego Fagundez, Juan Agudelo (Teal Bunbury 82’), Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen (Femi Hollinger-Janzen 86’), Scott Caldwell; F-Kei Kamara
Subs not used – GK-Cody Cropper; D-Darrius Barnes; M-Daigo Kobayashi, Steve Neumann; F-Donald Smith
GOALS
NE – Kamara (Rowe, Agudelo) 1’
NE – Rowe (Kamara, Fagundez) 27’
MTL – Drogba (PEN) 50’
NE – Rowe 59’
CAUTIONS
NE – Gonçalves 39’
MTL – Shipp 41’
MTL – Cabrera 54’
NE – Agudelo 72’
