MONTREAL – Strikers can be like workaholics: Even when they’ve done what was asked of them, they still feel the urge to do some more.
Like his teammates, Marco Di Vaio was quite cheerful on Saturday night after scoring the winner in the Montreal Impact’s 1-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls. Yet despite a bright performance during which his positioning and cleverness kept the RBNY defense guessing, he was adamant that he could have done more.
“Today, I could have scored two or three if I’d played better,” Di Vaio told the reporters crowding him in the Impact locker room. “But I’m happy because we won a difficult game against great team.”
OPTA Chalkboard: Red Bulls keep the ball, but Impact make most of their chances
Di Vaio’s point is a valid one, but his goal still made the difference and kept Montreal’s perfect record intact.
Yes, he badly botched his shot attempt on Andres Romero’s perfectly driven cross in the 69th minute and New York goalkeeper Luis Robles stoned the Italian forward twice in the last 20 minutes. But Impact head coach Marco Schällibaum preferred, just like the thousands of Montreal supporters that greeted the final whistle with roars and applause, to take notice of the good work done by Di Vaio.
“It’s part of football,” Schällibaum said of the missed chances. “Maybe it would have been better for my heart if we scored a second or third, and we would have been calmer in the last 10 minutes. But he worked to get chances, he got into the box and right there is a sign of good work.”
Added Di Vaio: “Every game, we progress. I feel better and we’re all finding each other better.”
