Impact draws with defending champions but is eliminated from playoff race
For Montreal, a win in Sunday’s game was absolutely necessary. It was the only result that would keep Wilmer Cabrera’s men alive in the playoff race heading into MLS Decision Day next week. It would be no easy task, of course, as the opponent was Atlanta United, the defending MLS Cup champion, currently ranked second in the Eastern Conference.
It looked like the Impact would succeed in completing its end of the deal, however, especially when Bojan tied the game in the 81st minute with his second Impact goal. Montreal had the momentum to try and find a winner, but in the end, it just didn’t pan out.
“We had some chances to score in the first half,” said Impact striker Bojan. “They scored first, which made things a little more difficult for us. But we showed the right attitude and reaction after conceding. That’s something we should think about and be proud of.”
A few hundred kilometres to the south, at Gillette Stadium, the New England Revolution was taking on New York City FC, a game in which the Revs emerged victorious 2-0, coincidentally booking their ticket to the playoffs. The result means that even if the Impact had won its game against the Georgians, they would still have been eliminated from participating in the fall tournament.
“We needed to focus on Atlanta and try to win the game,” said Impact head coach Wilmer Cabrera. “We didn’t care what New England did on their end or in other games. We need to focus on ourselves. We had to win on Sunday no matter what happened in other games. The reality is, if you depend on other results, you waste a lot of your energy.”
Instead, Montreal focused on the task at hand, managing a strong performance against a team that had won nine of its last 12 games in all competitions; both teams split possession, managed roughly the same number of passes, with Atlanta getting six shots on target as opposed to Montreal’s four.
In goal, Clément Diop, making his first MLS start with the Impact, was stellar, keeping his team’s hopes alive with two key saves in the game’s closing minutes.
“We wanted to win,” said centre-back Rod Fanni. “It was a special game, because we did a lot of good things, but there are some aspects of our game we must correct. Even if we won, it wouldn’t have been enough. But I think we could’ve managed the game better, and even have won it.”
The Impact now has just one game left to play before the end of the MLS regular season, on Sunday, October 6, when the New York Red Bulls will visit Stade Saputo at 4pm (TICKETS – TVA Sports, TSN, 98.5, TSN 690).
