HARRISON, New Jersey– Despite numerous great saves by goalkeeper Evan Bush, the Montreal Impact fell 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena.
Daniel Royer scored the only goal of the game at the hour-mark. Now unbeaten in their last 16 games in all competitions, the Red Bulls have taken the lead in the Eastern Conference standings and clinched a spot in the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs.
“We followed the game plan well, trying to hurt the Red Bulls on the counter, but they managed to score that goal,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We’re stabilizing things defensively, but we have to hit the back of the net. We have to keep pushing and working ahead of another important game on Wednesday.”
Bleu-blanc-noir creates chances in first half
The Impact could have written a much different story through Nacho Piatti’s boots in the first half. Seven minutes into the encounter, the Argentine went on a rampage, running past right back Chris Duvall and swaying past centre back Aurélien Collin. Piatti’s shot, however, narrowly missed to goalkeeper Luis Robles’ left.
Robles then came up strong against Piatti in the 32nd minute. After Marco Donadel nodded the ball into Piatti’s path, the Montreal forward beat Damien Perrinelle. Piatti then managed a shot in front of Dax McCarty, but Robles pushed his attempt away for a corner kick.
“Had our finishing been a bit better, we could have gotten more from our performance tonight,” said Didier Drogba. “It’s tough to be efficient on the attacking side away from home, but it is not for a lack of effort. We’re competitors, and we remain positive ahead of the game on Wednesday.”
At the other end of the field, Montreal ‘keeper Evan Bush made some excellent saves on his 75th MLS regular season appearance. In the 30th minute, after the Red Bulls took a quick corner kick, a Royer cross deflected onto the head of McCarty, who pushed the ball at the near post. But Bush dived to his left to stop the shot.
Bush made an even better save on Royer, 41 minutes in. Duvall crossed into the six-yard box for Royer, at the far post, but Bush lifted his arms to beat the point-blank header away. Bush would go on to make a total of six saves on the night.
“There’s a newfound urgency within the group when it comes to defending for the team,” said team captain Patrice Bernier. “We just have to keep the ball more, and we’ll suffer less. Possession isn’t everything, but we know that we can string a couple of passes together and get into the attacking half.”
But Royer would tally the lone goal of this game on a similar play, as the Red Bulls cranked up the pressure in Montreal’s defensive third. Duvall put in another cross from the right, and Royer made a late run to the edge of the six-yard box and nodded the ball in.
Next game
The Impact will return to Stade Saputo this Wednesday, September 28, to take on the San Jose Earthquakes (TVA Sports, 985sports.ca & TSN Radio 690). Excellent individual tickets are still available for this game on impactmontreal.com. As students return to class, those aged 18 and older may take advantage of the Campus IMFC promo: one match ticket, one jumbo hot-dog and one beer for 25$ – a 50% discount on the regular price for these items.
LINEUPS
NY – GK-Luis Robles; D-Chris Duvall, Aurélien Collin, Damien Perrinelle, Kemar Lawrence; M-Felipe, Dax McCarty, Alex Muyl, Sacha Kljestan (Sean Davis, 90’+4’), Daniel Royer (Mike Grella 84’); F-Bradley Wright-Phillips
Subs not used – GK-Kyle Reynish; D-Aaron Long, Sal Zizzo; M-Shaun Wright-Phillips; F-Gonzalo Verón
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Hassoun Camara, Víctor Cabrera, Laurent Ciman, Ambroise Oyongo; M-Marco Donadel, Hernán Bernardello (Harry Shipp 82’), Patrice Bernier (Matteo Mancosu 68’); F-Michael Salazar (Dominic Oduro 68’), Didier Drogba, Ignacio Piatti
Subs not used – GK-Eric Kronberg; D-Wandrille Lefèvre; M-Calum Mallace, Lucas Ontivero
GOAL
NY – Royer (Duvall) 60’
CAUTIONS
MTL – Cabrera 22’
MTL – Oyongo 45’+3’
MTL – Bernardello 56’
NY – Kljestan 56’
MTL – Donadel 81’
