Marco Donadel is harshly sent off against LA Galaxy
CARSON, California – The Montreal Impact recorded its second defeat of the season, losing 2-0 against LA Galaxy at StubHub Center on Friday night. The Bleu-blanc-noir had to play more than half the game with a man down after Marco Donadel saw red in the 44
th
minute.
The first shot of the game came in the sixth minute from Patrice Bernier’s foot, who found a pocket of space in front of the Californians’ box. His powerful shot just missed the top left corner of the frame. In the 10
th
minute, Emmanuel Boateng, on the left, crossed on the ground for Jermaine Jones. The American international, at the penalty spot, scuffed his shot, sending it tamely in Evan Bush’s hands.
Even though the Impact had most of the ball in the first half, it’s the Galaxy who took the lead through its new Designated Player, Romain Alessandrini, in the 15th minute. The Frenchman, in the middle, took a low shot with his left foot which caught Bush wrong-footed, who slipped.
Ten minutes later, Hassoun Camara had a good chance to find an equalizer with a free kick, his dangerous shot asking a lot of goalkeeper Clément Diop. A few minutes later, the French defender saw his game finish too early for his taste because of a head injury. Kyle Fisher took his place in the centre of the defence in the 35th minute.
Alessandrini, in the 37th minute, had an opportunity to double the hosts’ lead, but his downward header from a Gyasi Zardes cross just missed the target. The Impact almost leveled the score a few minutes later, when Matteo Mancosu took a shot with his left foot, but Diop made a diving save.
The Impact had to play the game down a man from the 44th minute. Marco Donadel, with both eyes looking at the ball, leaned back into Jermaine Jones to prepare for the duel. The Los Angeles midfielder threw himself to the ground holding his face with minimal contact and referee Armando Villarreal gave the Italian a red card.
“Unfortunately, it killed the game a bit,” said centre back Laurent Ciman. “I think we were good, especially in the first half. We moved the ball well. Now, we have to learn to push a bit more forward. We have to find space in the midfield to balance a little more forward and have more weight there. That is what we are looking for.”
The second half was hard for the Montrealers, as they were playing with a man down. Two minutes after the restart, Alessandrini sent a half-volley from the middle towards Bush, who saved cleanly. In the 53th minute, the Impact came once again close to finding a goal, Mancosu being sent through by Bernier, but the striker’s shot went narrowly wide.
The Galaxy continued to push to get the insurance goal. Emmanuel Boateng, from the left, crossed the ball in the 71st minute, but Giovani Dos Santos missed his volley. A few seconds later, Bush saved his team twice after a corner. Daniel Steres, in the six-yard box, redirected a Jelle Van Damme header towards the Impact goal and took his rebound, but did not succeed.
Two minutes later, Los Angeles doubled its lead through Jermaine Jones, who went on a breakaway and beat Bush with a low, right-footed shot.
“We were good in the first half,” said the Montreal Impact head coach, Mauro Biello. “We were better in possession, we were able to unbalance them and we had good chances. Their goalkeeper made a very good save on Matteo Mancosu, but the referee hurt us because there is no red card. Before the sending off, we were able to create chances, we were growing in the game. We will analyze and we might appeal.”
Following game
Stade Saputo comes back to life next Saturday, April 15, at 1pm, as the Impact plays its first outdoor home game this season against expansion club Atlanta United FC (TVA Sports, CTV, 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.
LINEUPS
MTL – GK- Evan Bush; D- Ambroise Oyongo, Laurent Ciman, Hassoun Camara (Kyle Fisher 35’), Chris Duvall; M- Marco Donadel, Hernán Bernardello, Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Patrice Bernier (Adrian Arregui 77’), Dominic Oduro (Michael Salazar 73’); F- Matteo Mancosu
Unused substitutes: Maxime Crépeau, Daniel Lovitz, Calum Mallace, Anthony Jackson-Hamel
LA – GK-Clément Diop ; D-Ashley Cole, Daniel Steres, Jelle Van Damme, Nathan Smith ; M-Emmanuel Boateng (Bradford Jamieson 88’), Jermaine Jones, João Pedro (Baggio Husidic 61’), Romain Alessandrini ; F-Giovani Dos Santos, Gyasi Zardes (Jack McBean 82’)
Unused substitutes: Brian Rowe, Dave Romney, Rafael Garcia, Jose Villareal
GOALS
LA – Romain Alessandrini (Boateng) 15’
LA – Jermaine Jones (Zardes) 74’
CAUTIONS
LA - João Pedro 54’
MTL - Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla 64’
EJECTION
MTL – Marco Donadel 44’
Down to 10 men, Impact loses 2-0 in California
