Leading at half-time, the Bleu-blanc-noir can’t hold on after the break
ATLANTA, Georgia – The Montreal Impact took an early lead, Saturday afternoon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and kept it for the majority of the game, but in the end fell 4-1 against Atlanta United. In the loss, midfielder Saphir Taïder scored his first MLS goal for the Impact.
“There’s nothing to be happy about in a loss, but if we can be happy about something, we can rejoice in the fact that we showed that when we defend together, we’re a difficult team to beat,” said Impact head coach Rémi Garde. “They scored four goals, but three were off set-pieces. Against a team like that, who scores a lot on everyone, I think our defensive performance was a good one.”
A good start for the Bleu-blanc-noir
In the fifth minute, Evan Bush came up with two big saves against Josef Martínez, first against a header and then off the rebound.
Other than that, the visitors stood strong in defense in the first half and had a few opportunities in Atlanta United’s final third, like in the 13th minute, when Chris Duvall found the space to send a precise cross for Taïder, who dove and headed the ball past goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
The locals and their numerous supporters celebrated what they thought was the equalizer in the 32nd minute, but Martínez was offside following a set-piece.
Montreal hurt off set-pieces
The Bleu-blanc-noir, confident upon its return from the dressing room and leading by a goal, created two good scoring chances one after the other, but Jeisson Vargas’ free-kick and a well-constructed play that allowed Alejandro Silva to get a chance on goal did not pay off.
The Impact was then severely punished by Atlanta’s attack. The tying goal came from Miguel Almirón, from the penalty spot, after a Montreal defender deflected the ball with his hand in the box in the 67th minute.
“I don’t think the scoreline is indicative of the effort we put in,” said goalkeeper Evan Bush. “Atlanta’s a good team, so if you defend like that for too long, they’re going to catch a break.”
The Bleu-blanc-noir tried to hold on for the draw, but in the 78th minute, a good free-kick by Kevin Kratz gave the locals the lead.
“We all gave a big effort, which is what was missing last game,” said midfielder Samuel Piette. “We played against a good team in a difficult atmosphere. We managed our game well and we worked hard. We didn’t concede a lot of shots or crosses, and we were often first on the ball. We showed a lot of solidarity today.”
In the 84th minute, on the counter-attack, Almirón scored his second after a nice backheel from Martínez. Then, in stoppage time, Kratz also earned his brace with another beautifully placed free-kick.
Upcoming games
The Impact will be back at Stade Saputo on May 5, at 1pm, to host the New England Revolution (TVA Sports,98,5fm, TSN Radio 690 – TICKETS) for the first game of a very busy week; the Bleu-blanc-noir will then travel to the Windy City for a game against the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park, on Wednesday, May 9 at 8:30pm (TVA Sports, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690), before playing its third game in eight days on Saturday, May 12 at 3pm against the Philadelphia Union at home (TVA Sports, CTV, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690 –TICKETS).
LINE-UPS
MTL – G-Evan Bush; D-Chris Duvall, Rudy Camacho, Jukka Raitala, Daniel Lovitz; M-Samuel Piette, Ken Krolicki (Anthony Jackson-Hamel 85’), Saphir Taïder; A-Alejandro Silva (Dominic Oduro 90’), Jeisson Vargas (Michael Petrasso 78’), Ignacio Piatti
Unused substitutes – Clément Diop, Shamit Shome, Louis Béland-Goyette, Matteo Mancosu
ATL – G-Brad Guzan; D-Chris McCann, Leandro González Pirez, Michael Parkhurst; M-Darlington Nagbe, Greg Garza (Kevin Kratz 75’), Jeff Larentowicz (Héctor Villalba 46’), Julian Gressel; A-Ezequiel Barco (Franco Escobar 88’), Josef Martínez, Miguel Almirón
Unused substitutes – Alec Kann, Sal Zizzo, Brandon Vázquez, Romario Williams
GOALS
MTL – Taïder (Duvall, Silva) 13’
ATL – Almirón (PEN) 70’
ATL – Kratz 78’
ATL – Almirón (Martínez) 84’
ATL – Kratz 90’+4’
CAUTIONS
MTL – Piette 35’
ATL – González Pirez 56’
ATL – Garza 59’
MTL – Bush 60’
MTL – Duvall 68’
ATL – Almirón 81’
MTL – Taïder 83’
