HARRISON, New Jersey – Having chased the game after the harsh sending off of Ambroise Oyongo, the Montreal Impact lost 3-1 to the New York Red Bulls, this Saturday night at Red Bull Arena.
Ignacio Piatti tallied his 13th goal of the season to open the scoring before Bradley Wright-Phillips, with a brace, and Sean Davis tipped the scales in favour of the home team.
“In the first part of the game, we did what we had to do, denying them space and countering, but we lost our focus afterwards,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “Some calls didn’t go our way, but we can’t concede the goals that we conceded, and we have to address that.”
New-look Impact strikes early, has PK shout denied
Mauro Biello shuffled his deck before Saturday’s game, opting for a two-forward formation. Didier Drogba, returning from suspension, played his 25th MLS game next to a tireless Matteo Mancosu.
The Impact first threatened in the sixth minute after a ball recovery on its left side. Nacho Piatti then ran down the middle to just outside the penalty area, where he struck a low shot that Luis Robles easily caught.
Another transition, 12 minutes later, saw goalkeeper Evan Bush pull off a fine save. A cross from the left side landed to the feet of Wright-Phillips on the edge of the box, but Bush made himself big and stopped Wright-Phillips’ shot.
This was a precious save as the Bleu-blanc-noir took the lead three minutes later. A long ball from Marco Donadel released Mancosu down the right. Once into the area, Mancosu cut inside, eliminating Ronald Zubar, and played a sideways ball for an onrushing Piatti, who beat Robles with a right-footed strike. Mancosu has now recorded a goal or an assist in his last four appearances.
But Wright-Phillips made it 1-1 a minute later. Sacha Kljestan played a through ball inside the area, and Wright-Phillips took two touches, which were enough for the ball to slowly roll past the goal line and in.
“We conceded goals too easily, and we committed too many individual mistakes,” said Laurent Ciman. “We have to move on as quickly as possible and get back to work in training ahead of next Saturday’s game, addressing the mistakes that we made.”
BWP gave a lead to the Red Bulls in the 41st minute. At the penalty spot, he got his head onto a Sean Davis cross, deflecting the ball away from Evan Bush’s reach.
The Impact should have had a chance to pull level on a penalty kick in the 43rd minute, as Aurélien Collin – who was already on a yellow card – stepped on Drogba’s foot in the area. Referee Chris Penso, however, did not penalize the Red Bulls centre back.
“We made technical mistakes tonight, but the fouls that I suffered have to be pointed out,” said Didier Drogba. “These decisions don’t wipe out our faults today, but they had a big influence on the game.”
Davis doubled the home team’s lead 20 seconds into the second half. A Mike Grella cutback somehow found its way to Sean Davis, on the edge of the area. Davis’ shot then took a deflection that surprised Bush, making it 3-1 for the Red Bulls.
The Red Bulls, who should have had two penalty kicks last Saturday, weren’t so unlucky on Saturday as Montreal was reduced to 10 men in the 48th minute, when referee Penso showed a straight red to Ambroise Oyongo for a clumsy intervention on Davis.
While the Impact did its utmost to cut the lead to one despite the sending off, its chances did not translate into goals. Piatti did come close to adding a second with an audacious chip from the centre circle in stoppage time, but Robles jumped to tip it away for a corner kick.
Next games
The Impact’s next game will take place at Stade Saputo on Saturday, August 20, at 7:30pm EDT against the Chicago Fire (TVA Sports, 98,5fm & TSN Radio 690). Excellent individual tickets are also still available for this game and the next – on Wednesday, August 24 at 7:30pm against D.C. United (TVA Sports & TSN Radio 690) – on impactmontreal.com.
LINEUPS
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Ambroise Oyongo, Víctor Cabrera, Laurent Ciman, Hassoun Camara; M-Marco Donadel (Donny Toia 52’), Calum Mallace, Hernán Bernardello, Ignacio Piatti; F-Didier Drogba (Michael Salazar 86’), Matteo Mancosu (Lucas Ontivero 78’)
Subs not used – GK-Eric Kronberg, Wandrille Lefèvre; M-Kyle Bekker; F-Dominic Oduro
NY – GK-Luis Robles; D-Chris Duvall, Ronald Zubar, Aurélien Collin (Sal Zizzo 60’), Kemar Lawrence; M-Felipe, Sean Davis, Alex Muyl, Sacha Kljestan (Omer Damari 79’), Mike Grella; F-Bradley Wright-Phillips (Gonzalo Veron 70’)
Subs not used – GK-Kyle Reynish; D-Justin Bilyeu; M-Derrick Etienne, Tyler Adams
GOALS
MTL – Piatti (Mancosu, Donadel) 21’
NYRB – Wright-Phillips (Kljestan, Davis) 22’
NYRB – Wright-Phillips (Davis) 41’
NYRB – Davis (Grella) 46’
CAUTIONS
NYRB – Collin 14’
MTL – Bernardello 50’
MTL – Mallace 69’
NYRB – Muyl 87’
EJECTION
MTL – Oyongo 48’
