The Montreal Impact Score 2 Goals In Mexico To Earn A Draw Against Pachuca
The Montreal Impact shifted their preseason training camp to Mexico two weeks in advance of their CONCACAF CHampions League quarterfinal match against Pachuca and on Tuesday, they played like it. The worst team in all of Major League Soccer last season went into the Nuevo Hidaldo and scored two important away goals to bring back with them to Montreal for next week’s critical second leg.
Dilly Duka scored both of Montreal’s goals as he opened the scoring in the 24th minute before he put the Impact up 2-0 in the 52nd minute. The lead would not last long though, as Heriberto Olvera put a lovely free kick past Evan Bush in the 56th minute, before Ariel Nahuelpan tied the game for the home side n the 67th minute. Despite blowing a two goal lead, the Impact will be thrilled with the result heading back to Montreal on Tuesday.
“I’m soaking it in now, but during the game, I tell you, I didn’t care who scored,” Duka told reporters following the match. “We were celebrating, that was a team out there. We were defending and attacking together. I really didn’t think about it. I was just like, ‘Get through the half, get through 90 minutes.’”
Frank Klopas got his tactics right on Tuesday night as Montreal played a tight and organized match. They absorbed whatever little pressure Pachuca put on them through the first 55 minutes and were absolutely lethal on the counter. Credit must be given to Klopas, as well as the front office, who seem to have done a fantastic job with some of the new faces brought in.
Dominic Oduro (who was recently acquired from Toronto FC) was a big reason Montreal were so effective on the counter, with his pace and ability to hold up play. The partnership in the heart of defense with newcomers Laurent Ciman and Bakary Soumare looked like a vast upgrade from the side that conceded 58 goals in MLS last season.
“It’s a good result away from home, but we took avoidable goals,” Ciman said after his Impact debut. “I didn’t know much about the referees, but I saw that it was worse than in Belgium. It’s a shame, because we had the game in our hands, and we could have gone back to Montreal with a clean sheet. But I think we can be satisfied with our first game. We played well as a team.”
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Those were not the only new names in the starting lineup though as the pivots in midfield, Nigel Reo-Coker and Marco Donadel, were also signed during the off-season. The Impact needed to make changes and it looks like they made the right ones.
There is no question they still need a legitimate ‘No.9′ up front, but they brought in experienced veterans who have played all over Europe to help address some of their biggest issues. If what we saw on Tuesday night in Mexico is any indication of what we’ll be seeing from the Impact in 2015 come the start of the MLS season, there should be reason for optimism in Quebec.
Impact fans shouldn’t get too ahead of themselves yet though, as there is another leg to play and Pachuca will know what to expect from Klopas’ side next time around. Also, we saw Montreal do well in cup competition last year while their domestic form was woeful, so we really don’t know what we’ll see come March 7th when they kickoff their season against D.C. United.
Pachuca need to be given a ton of credit for getting back into the match and nearly winning it. However, they needed to come out from the opening minute putting pressure on the visitors and they didn’t. For much of the match, they were too content with just holding possession while not actually creating much up front.
They did take advantage of the Canadian side as the game wore on and the altitude started to affect the visitors, but they needed a brilliant free kick from Olvera to wake them up. They will not be happy with a draw at home in the first leg, but still have all to play for next week in Canada. Pachuca will need to do a better job in taking the game to Montreal in the second leg if they are going to have any chance of advancing to the second round though.
The second leg takes place Tuesday March 4th at 8 pm/et from Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.