Solid away performance turns into worst case scenario
The gods of soccer can be cruel sometimes. Yesterday in the Windy City, the Bleu-blanc-noir experienced their full wrath. After 88 minutes of play, the game seemed destined to end in a scoreless draw. But in the 89th minute, Kevin Ellis, cutting inside from the right flank, took a harmless shot with his left foot that ended up deflecting right past Bush’s left post and into the net.
“We made a defensive mistake on the goal,” said Impact head coach Rémi Garde. “Usually, when there are goals, there are mistakes. I feel the need to be positive with the players because they put in an enormous effort. We were structured and disciplined for 88 minutes on the field. The one time we weren’t, it cost us dearly.”
The Impact was indeed almost perfect defensively in Chicago but was unable to find the quality it needed to break through the Fire’s defense, despite some good scoring opportunities, especially in the first half. Still, credit is due to the Fire, who blocked six of Montreal’s 14 shot attempts, with the Bleu-blanc-noir shooting another six off target.
“Overall the effort and the energy were great today,” said goalkeeper Evan Bush. “We were a little bit more solid in certain moments and we probably could’ve stolen a goal or two in the first half. If you let the game draw for long like that, you leave yourself open to unlucky situations.”
Building their identity
The Impact squad has come a long way since the first few days of training camp. 10 games into the season, we’ve seen positive and negative bouts of play from this team, whether offensively or defensively, from a vast array of players. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the Impact knows there’s still a lot to work to do.
“We work a lot on finding a balance between attack and defense,” said defender Rod Fanni. “Finding that balance, that identity, will make us much more stable as a team. We’re coming out of a complicated stretch. Last week was already a lot better, and we were coherent tonight as well. We need to keep working hard. But to concede an unlucky goal in the last few minutes, that always hurts.”
The Impact will have almost no time to dwell on the away loss, as the team gets set for a game against the Philadelphia Union at Stade Saputo, this Saturday at 3pm (TICKETS – TVA Sports, CTV, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690).
“That’s the beauty of football,” said midfielder Samuel Piette. “We have opportunities to bounce back quickly. We have a game this weekend. It’s a good chance for us to turn this around and offer a good performance. If we play like we played today and last week, we’ll be successful.”
