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MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact played D.C. United to a 1-1 tie marked by key stops by Black-and-Red goalkeeper Bill Hamid, this Wednesday night at Stade Saputo in front of 19,740 fans at Stade Saputo.
Hassoun Camara and Lamar Neagle scored the two goals, but ‘keeper Hamid made the difference with three saves that robbed Montreal of almost surefire goals.
“The team’s effort was very good tonight,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “In different moments, we weren’t getting breaks, but overall, with our fighting spirit, we created enough chances to win this game. The players didn’t quit, pushed all the way through. With efforts like this one, we’re going to collect points in this league.”
A determined Bleu-blanc-noir
United opened the scoring in the 39th minute. Referee Robert Sibiga called a penalty kick in favour of the visitors on the previous sequence of play, after he judged that Patrick Nyarko had been fouled in the penalty area on the counter. Former Impact player Neagle took care of the kick, which he placed to Evan Bush’s right.
The Bleu-blanc-noir had largely dominated the play earlier, which made the decision all the more frustrating. Didier Drogba, Hernán Bernardello and Ignacio Piatti had wowed supporters in the 10th minute, when a beautiful triangular pattern of passing freed up Piatti down the middle. Hamid, however, dived to his left to stop Piatti’s attempt from the outside of his right boot.
Hamid walked on water again in the 55th minute. A Johan Venegas header seemed destined to hit the back of the net, but Hamid swiftly moved to his right to stop the ball on the line.
The third miracle occurred 11 minutes later. A Piatti cross reached Drogba, who chested the ball down before facing Hamid to his left. But somehow, the goalkeeper managed to make himself big and stymie the Ivorian striker.
“Hamid is a solid ‘keeper that makes very good saves,” said Evan Bush. “He played well, but we still should have probably finished off one or two chances. But we showed a ton of character in the second half and handled them very well in transition.”
Bush, however, wasn’t going to let Hamid have all the big saves, and his turn came in the 73rd minute. A strong Rob Vincent shot from outside the box deflected off of Donny Toia, but Bush managed to turn the strike away for a corner kick.
This would prove to be a crucial save as the Impact drew level in the 77th minute. After a corner kick, a resolute Marco Donadel recovered the ball from Neagle on the edge of the area. Donadel then put a perfect cross in at the far post for Camara, whose diving header beat Hamid.
“After the Chicago game, we wanted to show that we have the right attitude,” said Ambroise Oyongo. “We looked for the win until the very end. It’s a good sign for what’s ahead. We have to keep working as we have.”
Pushed on by a loud crowd, the Bleu-blanc-noir then left everything on the field to create chances but couldn’t get another past Hamid. Donadel, who was everywhere on the field, was then brought down by Kofi Opare in the 89th minute, which got the United defender sent off.
Next games
The Impact’s next home game will take place on Wednesday, September 7, at 7:30pm against Kaká and Orlando City SC (TVA Sports, TSN & TSN Radio 690). Excellent individual tickets are still available for this game on impactmontreal.com.
In the meantime, the Impact will travel to the banks of Lake Ontario to take on rivals Toronto FC at BMO Field on Saturday, August 27, at 7:30pm (RDS, TSN, 98,5fm & TSN Radio 690).
LINEUPS
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Donny Toia, Hassoun Camara, Laurent Ciman, Ambroise Oyongo; M-Marco Donadel, Hernán Bernardello, Michael Salazar (Matteo Mancosu 65’), Ignacio Piatti, Johan Venegas (Dominic Oduro 61’); F-Didier Drogba
Subs not used – GK-Eric Kronberg; D-Wandrille Lefèvre, Víctor Cabrera; M-Calum Mallace, Kyle Bekker
DC – GK-Bill Hamid; D-Kofi Opare, Luke Mishu, Sean Franklin (Taylor Kemp 46’), Steve Birnbaum; M-Julian Büscher, Lamar Neagle, Nick DeLeon, Patrick Nyarko (Marcelo Sarvas 62’), Rob Vincent; F-Kennedy Igboananike (Patrick Mullins 79’)
Subs not used – GK-Travis Worra; D-Jalen Robinson; M-Luciano Acosta; F-Álvaro Saborío
GOALS
DC – Neagle (PEN) 39’
MTL – Camara (Donadel) 77’
CAUTIONS
DC – Birnbaum 8’
MTL – Bush 36’
DC – Sarvas 63’
DC – Igboananike 67’
EJECTION
DC – Opare 89’
