KANSAS CITY – The Montreal Impact extended its MLS undefeated streak to three games (2-0-1), earning a 1-1 tie against Sporting Kansas City, Saturday night, at Children’s Mercy Park, in Kansas. Striker Matteo Mancosu, who returned from injury after missing six games (all competitions) scored the game-tying goal, his third of the season.
“In the second half, we made some adjustments, we recovered a lot more balls and in the end, we had an excellent goal from Matteo Mancosu,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “He went through six difficult weeks but he came back and scored an important goal for us tonight. You have to be strong, that’s the game. It’s in those difficult moments that you need to come out. There is still work to do, but we must build on a performance like tonight. It was also special to see the return of (Andres) Romero. It’s not easy for a player to return from that kind of injury but he worked hard. It’s a special moment for him and I am happy that he was able to come to help us.”
Romero made his long-awaited return with the team at the 71st minute when he replaced Nick DePuy, touching an MLS field for the first time since October 10, 2015, in Colorado, following a knee injury.
“It’s satisfying,” added defender Hassoun Camara about the game. “We knew that this would be a difficult game. We showed that we have a great group and that we wanted to come here in mission mode. We’ve earned an important point here.”
Before tonight’s game, Sporting Kansas City led the Western Conference standings, having only allowed 10 goals. The 2013 MLS Cup winners were also unbeaten at home, with six wins and one draw.
The home team gets the advantage in the first half
Sporting Kansas City got the first scoring chance of the game in the 15th minute, when striker Dominic Dwyer, standing in the 18-yard box, hit the crossbar with a strong volley following a cross from Gerso Fernandez.
Controlling most of the play with 69.9% possession in the first half, Kansas City opened the score in the 24th minute on Fernandez’s sixth goal of the season. The Portuguese winger received a long ball from midfielder Ilie Sánchez, behind the Montreal defence, and beat goalkeeper Evan Bush with a low shot to his right.
At the 32nd minute, Impact striker Nick DePuy, in his first career start with the Impact, had the tying goal at his feet on a cross from Chris Duvall, but his shot went over the net.
Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush was busy in the first 45 minutes, with three saves, two of which were from Dwyer.
More pressure from the Impact in the second half
The Impact applied more pressure in the second half, and had another good chance in the 50th minute. Nacho Piatti swerved in alone on the left side of the box but his left-footed shot was partially blocked by goalkeeper Tim Melia before hitting the crossbar.
The Bleu-blanc-noir thought it had levelled the score at the 70th minute on a shot from striker Dominic Oduro, but the referee called the play offside.
Entering the game for Oduro, striker Matteo Mancosu pounced on a giveaway from Kansas City defender Soni Mustivar in the 82nd minute, intercepting a back pass before skillfully lobbing the ball over the goalkeeper to tie the game. It was the Impact’s 250th goal since joining MLS in 2012.
The Impact played the last five minutes with a man down, following the ejection of defender Chris Duvall on a play with Roger Espinoza.
“I think this is big for us, playing against the top team of the Western Conference and getting a point here,” said defender Chris Duvall. “This is something we can definitely work on. It was great to see players back from injuries, come on and make a big impact.”
Several changes in the starting lineup
Many players were not available due to international leave, including Laurent Ciman (Belgium), Ambroise Oyongo (Cameroon), Blerim Dzemaili (Switzerland), as well as Maxime Crépeau, Patrice Bernier and Anthony Jackson-Hamel (Canada).
Mauro Biello therefore had to make considerable changes to his starting lineup, using five defenders in a 5-2-3 formation that included the returns of Hassoun Camara, Victor Cabrera and Daniel Lovitz.
Upcoming games
The Impact will travel to the Sunshine State for a meeting with Orlando City SC, on Saturday, June 17, at 7:30pm (TVA Sports, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690), before coming back home at Stade Saputo, on Wednesday, June 21, for the first leg of the Canadian Championship final against Toronto FC (RDS, TSN, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690). Excellent tickets for this final, as well as prorated season tickets, are offered on impactmontreal.com.
LINEUPS
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Daniel Lovitz, Kyle Fisher, Hassoun Camara, Victor Cabrera, Chris Duvall; M-Marco Donadel, Calum Mallace, F-Ignacio Piatti (Michael Salazar 90’ + 2’), Nick DePuy (Andrés Romero 71’), Dominic Oduro (Matteo Mancosu 77’)
Subs not used: Eric Kronberg, Wandrille Lefèvre, Adrián Arregui
SKC – GK-Tim Melia; D-Saad Abdul-Salaam, Ike Opara, Kevin Ellis, Seth Sinovic; M-Roger Espinoza, Ilie Sánchez, Benny Feilhaber; F-Gerso Fernandez, Dominic Dwyer, Jimmy Medranda (Soni Mustivar 80’)
Subs not used: Andrew Dykstra, Igor Julião, Amer Didic, Diego Rubio, Cameron Porter, Daniel Salloi
GOALS
SKC – Fernandez (Sánchez) 24’
MTL – Mancosu 82’
CAUTIONS
MTL – Piatti 45’ + 1’
MTL – Mancosu 84’
EJECTION
MTL – Duvall 86’
