FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts – With a depleted roster due to a number of injuries, the Montreal Impact fell to the New England Revolution 2-1 on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. The Impact scored the game’s opening goal, but had to play the final 30 minutes down a man due to a red card.
“I’ve never been in this kind of situation before with all the injuries, but I thought the guys left everything on the field tonight,” said Impact head coach Frank Klopas. “More than anything, our young players stepped in, took the challenge and I’m extremely happy for them. They reacted well against a strong team. I’m excited about the future of this team.”
Midfielder Calum Mallace scored his first career goal in MLS in the 13th minute. Alone in front of goal, he finished off a passing play by Jack McInerney and Futty Danso.
"It's nice to get that first goal," said Mallace. "I've been here for a while now and have played some significant minutes this year, so it was nice to get that first one. The team showed a lot of heart and determination. We had some young guys out there and we went into the game with the attitude to give it all we had."
The Revs tied things up in the 23rd minute after a missed clearing attempt was recovered by Kelyn Rowe. The American midfielder fired a long distance shot that beat Impact keeper Troy Perkins to his left.
Then two minutes later, following a combination of passes in the final third, the Revolution went ahead on a goal by Lee Nguyen, his 13th of the season, as he chipped Perkins from inside the box.
"We had a decent start, contained their pressure well and used the counter to score the first goal," said Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé. "But we couldn't contain their pressure for moments and they scored two quick goals. It made it tough for us after that."
The final 30 minutes was especially tough as Krzystof Krol was ejected after he was shown a second yellow for a wreckless tackle in the 62nd minute.
Troy Perkins, who was making his first start since August 9, finished the game with eight saves, most notably in the first half in front of Jermaine Jones, in the 3rd minute, and twice against Charlie Davies, once in stoppage time of the first half and then again in the 69th minute. Eric Miller also stopped the ball on the goal line in the 64th minute.
His counterpart, Bobby Shuttleworth, solidified his team’s one-goal lead with a huge stop on Dilly Duka in the 7th minute.
A total of 10 players were not available on Saturday due to injuries: defenders Hassoun Camara (elbow), Matteo Ferrari (thigh), Adrian Lopez (knee), Maxim Tissot (thigh), Gege Soriola (shoulder), as well as midifelders Patrice Bernier (foot), Gorka Larrea (calf) and Justin Mapp (groin). Karl W. Ouimette stayed in Montreal for personal reasons, while Felipe was out with a suspension due to yellow card accumulation.
The door was open for Academy products Anthony Jackson-Hamel and Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé made their first career starts in MLS, while Louis Beland-Goyette, who signed his pro contract Friday, made his first appearance in the second half.
The Impact will now play a key game on Wednesday at 8pm, at Stade Saputo, against the New York Red Bulls in CONCACAF Champions League. A win could put IMFC in a good position to finish top in its group and qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament. Excellent tickets for that game are still available through ticketmaster.ca.
Lineups
MTL – GK-Troy Perkins; D-Eric Miller, Wandrille Lefèvre (Heath Pearce 81’), Futty Danso, Krzysztof Król; M-Calum Mallace, Jeremy Gagnon-Laparé, Andrés Romero (Issey Nakajima-Farran 61’), Dilly Duka, Anthony Jackson-Hamel (Louis Béland-Goyette 75’); F-Jack McInerney
Subs not used: GK-Evan Bush; M-Ignacio Piatti; F-Marco Di Vaio
NE – GK-Bobby Shuttleworth; D-Andrew Farrell, A.J. Soares, José Gonçalves, Darrius Barnes; M-Jermaine Jones (Scott Caldwell 45’), Daigo Kobayashi, Teal Bunbury (Diego Fagundez 76’), Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe; F-Charlie Davies (Geoffrey Castillion 76’)
Subs not used: GK-Brad Knighton; D-Kevin Alston; M-Chris Tierney; F-Steve Neumann
Goals
MTL – Mallace (McInerney, Danso) 13’
NE – Rowe 23’
NE – Nguyen (Davies, Jones) 25’
Cautions
NE – Farrell 17’
MTL – Krol 47’
NE – Bunbury 48’
MTL – Lefèvre 65’
Ejection
MTL – Krol (second yellow) 62’
