“We faced a very good team, but we didn’t play our best game today,” said Impact head coach John Limniatis. “We started off slowly and there was a lack of intensity in our play. I think we considered this match as a friendly game. Fortunately the result is not important. We will be focused and ready on Thursday.”
Dynamo midfielder Chris Wondolowski opened the score in the 9th minute, taking advantage of a poorly cleared ball from the Montreal defense.
Then, Impact forward Roberto Brown tied the score in the 37 th minute of play. On the sequence, midfielder Tony Donatelli made a pass behind the Dynamo defense for Félix Brillant, who centered the ball for Brown, who netted it with a volley shot.
Dynamo forward Brian Ching scored the two following goals, at the 47th and 51st minutes of the second half.
Impact forward Peter Byers closed the lead to one goal in the last minute of the game. After accepting Eduardo Sebrango’s pass, Byers fired a strong left footed shot from outside the box, in the upper corner of the net.
Matt Jordan was in the nets during the first half, while goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic took over in the second half of the game.
This is Montreal’s first loss in 10 preseason games (7-1-2), since the beginning of training camp.
The Impact will train in Houston Sunday and will then fly to Torreon, Mexico, Monday, to play its second quarterfinal game of the CONCACAF Champions League.
The decisive game of the home-and-away aggregate goal series will be played Thursday, March 5, at Corona Stadium, in Torreon, Mexico, at 10 pm Eastern time (bold TV, radio-canada.ca/sports, cbc.ca/sports; second half live at 10:55 pm: Radio-Canada; tape delayed at midnight: CBC).
The winner of this series will match up against the winner of the Dynamo and Atlante FC series in the semifinal round, to take place from March 17 to the 19 and from April 7 to the 9, 2009.
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Source : Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info : 514-328-3668 (ext. 227)
