[dropcap]H[/dropcap]eading into Saturday night’s match at MAPFRE Stadium, the Montreal Impact were eager to get its first road win since the 2013 MLS regular season.
Through a combination of ball control and a potent counter-attack in the second half, IMFC was able to stick to their game plan and notch a 2-1 victory against a stunned Columbus Crew SC side. Earning their first victory in Ohio since joining the MLS, the Bleu-Blanc-Noir has won of four of its last five matches, making a climb up the Eastern Conference table.
Facing the Nordecke supporter section in the first half, Crew SC attacked utilized its diagonal attack to create quality chances in the final third. Kamara and Francis headers off set pieces as well as finishing runs by an active Ethan Finlay gave the Black & Gold many shot opportunities, yet none were converted. Going into the locker rooms for halftime at 0-0, many of the 12,265 in attendance at MAPFRE were left scratching their heads wondering how Crew SC couldn’t find the net despite thoroughly dominating possession and shots on goal.
Noticing that Crew SC tactically favors pushing its outside backs far up, Impact boss Frank Klopas wanted his club to press offensively on the counterattack. Taking advantage of Columbus defensive miscues and limiting touches to Federico Higuain, Impact captain Ignacio Piatti and midfielder Andrés Romero utilized well-timed runs via counterattack to keep the Crew SC defense on the run for large stretches of the second half. After making a number of incredible saves in the first half, Columbus goalkeeper could not stop a rebounded shot by Maxim Tissot that made it 1-0 Impact at the 55 minute mark. Every time the Columbus defense was out of position to recover, Romero and Piatti were the Argentine cavalry that set up ample counterattack opportunities for Impact forward Jack McInerney.
Moments after a Higuain free kick opportunity at the top of the box was stopped by the Impact defense in the 76th minute, the Argentine duo lead a two on one charge to exploit the Columbus defense. With only a trailing Francis to catch up, Romero chipped it calmly past a lunging Clark to make it 2-0 in the 79th minute, exciting Klopas and a jubilant IMFC bench.
Immediately after the Romero goal, Crew SC Coach and Sporting Director Gregg Berhalter looked to his bench, subbing forward Aaron Shoenfeld for Mohammed Saeid in the 80th minute to give the Black & Gold a needed offensive spark. In response, Klopas brought in two defensive substitutions with Patrice Bernier (81st minute) and Victor Cabrera (82nd minute) to stymie the Crew SC surge.
The last 15 minutes of the match proved to be both intense and chippy at MAPFRE, with yellow-card bookings issued to Montreal’s Donny Toia (88th minute) and McInerney (93rd minute). Despite outshooting Montreal by nearly a two to one margin, the only Crew SC shot that netted would not come until the 91st minute on a Federico Higuain consolation goal past Evan Bush. After a stopped Kamara header in the box and multiple opportunities in the box, Crew SC were unable to provide the equalizer as Ted Unkel blew the full time whistle at the 94th minute.
Montreal will carry their win streak to the Big Apple as they take on New York City FC on Saturday. Columbus will continue their homestand in Ohio as they face the LA Galaxy on the same evening.
