Please enable Javascript to watch this video
MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact did everything but score, this Wednesday night, against prestigious Italian club A.S. Roma. The Bleu-blanc-noir suffered a 2-0 loss against the Giallorossi but played good soccer, created chances and showed plenty of will in front of another sellout crowd of 20,801 fans – a record for an international game at Stade Saputo.
Edin Džeko and Radja Nainggolan scored the only goals of the game in the first half. The second half saw both teams make several changes – the Impact, at one point, fielded no fewer than seven of its Homegrown Players at the same time.
“We were a bit nervous at first, but we grew into the game against a top-class opponent,” said Montreal Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We made a lot of changes, but we created a lot of good chances and managed to unbalance them. In the end, we could have had some goals tonight.”
“We liked it very much here,” said A.S. Roma head coach Luciano Spalletti. “This was a nice atmosphere. We faced a very good team fitting of this fine city. The club has a nice stadium and great facilities. Should we return in North America, this would be the ideal place to stay for a week.”
Strong Roma lineup sets the tone
The Bleu-blanc-noir took on Roma’s big guns from the get-go. Many Roma regulars such as Kostas Manolas, Daniele De Rossi, Kevin Strootman, Radja Nainggolan and Edin Džeko were on the field for the opening kickoff.
Still, the Impact created the early chances. Homegrown Player David Choinière, first, won a corner after forcing Roma goalkeeper Alisson into a save four minutes in. Then, a minute later, Didier Drogba tried to lob the ball past Alisson and into the net, but it crashed onto the crossbar.
But Roma took the lead seconds later. Diego Perotti picked up a lost ball to goalkeeper Eric Kronberg’s right and cut it back to Džeko, who slammed it home first-time with his left foot.
Džeko missed another opportunity in the 18th minute, but Nainggolan doubled the visitors’ lead three minutes later. Running onto a through ball by Mohamed Salah, Nainggolan beat Kronberg with a low shot to his right.
The Impact hit the frame again on 30 minutes, as only the post could stop a Choinière shot to Alisson’s left. The ball bounced back for Didier Drogba, but Alisson somehow returned in the middle of his goal in time to make the save.
The last minutes of the first half were the scene for several Montreal chances. Alisson was strong again in the 42nd minute as he deflected a Michael Salazar attempt away for a corner kick. Then, two straight opportunities didn’t go Salazar’s way. First, a fine Drogba cross from the left just missed his extended foot, after which captain Patrice Bernier got a touch on an attempted clearance by Alisson. The ball fell for Salazar, but his shot barely missed the frame.
Roma tifosi couldn’t wait to see their captain, Francesco Totti, who came on as a sub at halftime. Totti made his presence felt in the 53rd minute as he tried his luck against goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, but the shot missed the net.
“You don’t face A.S. Roma every day,” said Maxime Crépeau. “We had fun out there. We didn’t put pressure on ourselves. I’m pleased with my 45 minutes. We didn’t concede, which is the biggest objective.”
The Impact then created numerous opportunities. Lucas Ontivero, in the 63rd minute, cut inside before unleashing a shot that didn’t miss by much. Five minutes later, Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla came close on a fine transition led by Anthony Jackson-Hamel, who had a goal called back for offside in the 75th minute as he tapped home a rebound after Tabla hit the crossbar.
Crépeau was solid throughout the second half, most notably in the 89th minute when he denied Stephan El Shaarawy on a one-on-one. The Homegrown ‘keeper made seven second-half saves.
Next game
The next MLS game at Stade Saputo will be played on Saturday, August 6, against the Houston Dynamo (TVA Sports, 98,5fm & TSN Radio 690). Excellent individual tickets are still available for this game on impactmontreal.com.
LINEUPS
MTL – GK-Eric Kronberg (Maxime Crépeau 46’); D-Donny Toia (Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé 67’), Victor Cabrera (Wandrille Lefèvre 46’), Kyle Fisher (Thomas Meilleur-Giguère 67’), Amadou Dia; M-Marco Donadel (Hernan Bernardello 31’, Balou Jean-Yves Tabla 67’), Patrice Bernier (Kyle Bekker 46’), Ignacio Piatti (Michael Salazar 31’, Johan Venegas 67’), Dominic Oduro (Lucas Ontivero 46’, Anthony Jackson-Hamel 67’), David Choinière; F-Didier Drogba (Matteo Mancosu 46’)
Unused sub – GK-Evan Bush
ROMA – GK-Alisson; D-Emerson (Moustapha Seck 46’), Juan Jesus (Norbert Gyömbér 46’), Kostas Manolas (Stephan El Shaarawy 46’), Alessandro Florenzi; M-Daniele De Rossi (Federico Ricci 64’), Kevin Strootman (Gerson 46’), Radja Nainggolan (Francesco Totti 46’), Diego Perotti (Riccardo Marchizza 46’); F-Edin Džeko (Leandro Paredes 46’), Mohamed Salah (Juan Iturbe 46’)
Unused subs – GK-Bogdan Lobont, Andrea Romagnoli, Lorenzo Crisanto; D-Eros De Santis, Vasilis Torosidis; M-William Vainqueur, Lorenzo Di Livio, Christian D’Urso; F-Edoardo Soleri
GOALS
ROMA – Džeko (Perotti) 6’
ROMA – Nainggolan (Salah) 21’
CAUTIONS
ROMA – Iturbe 76’
ROMA – Gerson 79’
