Donadel scores Bleu-blanc-noir’s only goal
MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact lost 2-1 against Canadian rivals Vancouver Whitecaps FC, this Saturday afternoon at Stade Saputo. Marco Donadel opened the scoring for the home team, but Andrew Jacobson and Cristian Techera allowed the visitors to come back from behind and take the three points.
“I thought that in the first half, after we scored, we were slow, reactionary in the middle,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We were not able to deal with their overload, with Bolaños coming underneath and Jacobson and Tchani playing in between the lines. They were getting out of situations while we were getting tired as they possessed the ball and they finally hurt us. In the second half, we played with more intensity, we moved the ball quicker and we were able to create some chances, but we did not score.”
These two teams will face each other again in the Canadian Championship semifinal, starting on Tuesday, May 23, at 10pm EDT in Vancouver, with the return leg scheduled for Tuesday, May 30, at 7:30pm EDT at Stade Saputo.
Impact gets going early
The Bleu-blanc-noir took a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute after the ball popped out of a tackle on Nacho Piatti. From outside the penalty area, Marco Donadel unleashed a strike toward the net defended by goalkeeper David Ousted, who seemed to expect a deflection by Anthony Jackson-Hamel, who’d come on as a sub in the fifth minute after Matteo Mancosu picked up a knock. But Jackson-Hamel got no touch of the ball, and Donadel’s shot beat Ousted to his right.
But the visitors pulled level in the 29th minute. After the Impact defence cleared a Christian Bolaños free kick, Andrew Jacobson hit a spectacular volley that left no chance to goalkeeper Evan Bush.
After halftime, the Impact kept putting pressure onto the Vancouver defence and notably managed to create some good opportunities on crosses; this pressure was shown in the corner count, with Montreal having nine in total. But goalkeeper Ousted made a handful of saves, between minutes 74 and 78, that would end up being crucial, notably on Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, who took seven shots during the game.
Whitecaps FC scored a second in the 79th minute. A fine ball played in behind by Jacobson found Cristian Techera, who checked and created an angle to beat Evan Bush with a low shot.
Next games
The Impact will play its third game at Stade Saputo this season on Saturday, May 13, at 5pm EDT, against Columbus Crew SC (TVA Sports, 98,5FM & TSN Radio 690). Excellent tickets for this game, as well as season tickets and mini season packages, are still available on impactmontreal.com. In the meantime, the Bleu-blanc-noir will play D.C. United in the American capital on Saturday, May 6, at 6pm (TVA Sports, 98,5FM & TSN Radio 690).
LINEUPS
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Chris Duvall, Kyle Fisher, Laurent Ciman, Ambroise Oyongo; M-Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Marco Donadel, Patrice Bernier, Hernán Bernardello (Dominic Oduro 65’), Nacho Piatti; F-Matteo Mancosu (Anthony Jackson-Hamel 5’, Daniel Lovitz 73’)
Subs not used – GK-Maxime Crépeau; M-Calum Mallace, Adrián Arregui, Louis Béland-Goyette;
VAN – GK-David Ousted; D-Sheanon Williams, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; M-Cristian Techera (Russell Teibert 90’), Matías Laba, Tony Tchani (Alphonso Davies 68’), Andrew Jacobson, Christian Bolaños (Nicolás Mezquida 81’); F-Fredy Montero
Subs not used – GK-Paolo Tornaghi; D-Jakob Nerwinski; M-Mauro Rosales, Ben McKendry
GOALS
MTL – Donadel 9’
VAN – Jacobson 29’
VAN – Techera (Jacobson)
CAUTIONS
MTL – Fisher 28’
MTL – Bernardello 41’
MTL – Donadel 59’
VAN – Laba 65’
MTL – Oduro 90’ + 4’
