ORLANDO, Florida – In its final preseason matchup, the Montreal Impact concluded the Walt Disney World Pro Classic with a 1-1 draw against the Philadelphia Union, Saturday afternoon, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The final ranking of the tournament was then decided on penalties.
The Union opened the scoring in the 29th minute when forward Jack McInerney brought in a long ball behind the Impact defence, just inside the box. Alone in front of Troy Perkins, McInerney beat the goalkeeper with a low shot to the right of goal.
The Impact tied with an identical goal at the 80th minute, when striker Marco Di Vaio also found himself alone with goalkeeper Zach MacMath. The Designated Player didn’t miss his target, beating MacMath with a lot show to the far post.
The Impact got an excellent scoring chance in the first half. In the 39th minute, midfielder Justin Mapp played a cross from the right of goal to Andrew Wenger, but is header was stopped by a diving MacMath.
The team ends camp with two wins (Orlando City 2-1 and Fluminense 1-0), two losses (New York 3-0 and Kansas City 3-2) and one draw (Philadelphia 1-1).
Post-game Comments
“It was a good for us to come from behind today. The penalties don’t really matter,” said Troy Perkins. “The team showed character and it’s a good step for the group going forward. Personally, it was good for me to be able to play a game after nursing an injury the past few days.”
“We worked on several things today but there were heavy legs following three weeks of training,” said Impact assistant coach Mauro Biello. “We controlled much of the second half and were able to come back and tie the game with a late goal.”
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Lineups
MTL – GK-Troy Perkins; D-Hassoun Camara (Calum Mallace 46’), Wandrille Lefèvre, Matteo Ferrari, Eric Miller (Heath Pearce 76’); M-Hernan Bernardello, Collen Warner, Felipe (Patrice Bernier 79’), Justin Mapp, Sanna Nyassi (Andrés Romero 76’); F-Andrew Wenger (Marco Di Vaio 64’)
PHI – Zac MacMath; D-Fabinho, Austin Berry (Aaron Wheeler 80’), Amobi Okugo, Raymon Gaddis; M-Brian Carroll, Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira; Cristian Maidana (Zach Pfeffer 85’), Sébastien Le Toux (Leo Fernandes 72’), Jack McInerney (Danny Cruz 72’)
Goals
PHI – McInerney 29’
MTL – Di Vaio 80’
Caution
MTL – Warner 90+1’
Penaltys
PHI – Fernandes (scored)
MTL – Di Vaio (missed)
PHI – Wheeler (scored)
MTL – Bernier (missed)
PHI – Carroll (scored)
MTL – Bernardello (scored)
PHI – Nogueira (scored)
