Visiting Montreal Impact took home a vital three points from Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Union. Here are three things we learned.
A stellar showing by the Montreal Impact yielded a fantastic result for a club that is looking to secure a place in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Their opponents, the Philadelphia Union, entered Saturday night’s match four points ahead of them in fifth place, but are now only one point clear heading into this week’s slate of action.
After falling behind 1-0 in the 11th minute, the Impact were able to battle back to score four unanswered goals over the course of the match. The visitors were led by Alejandro Silva who scored a brace to lead the way for the Quebec club. Ignacio Piatti was heavily involved in the scoring as well, per usual. The Argentine had two assists to increase his season total to 11 assists.
For the Philadelphia, this match puts them in an interesting position heading into a tough part of their schedule that includes the upcoming U.S. Open Cup Final against the Houston Dynamo.
Piatti and Silva make it 4️⃣ for @impactmontreal #PHIvMTL https://t.co/mBnumrohU5
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 16, 2018
Here are three things we learned from this hotly contested, critically important Eastern Conference match-up.
3. Nervy times in the middle of the table
There are four teams in the running for the final two Eastern Conference playoff spots at the moment. Montreal and Philadelphia occupy the last two places with D.C. United and the New England Revolution close behind. Only six points separate the eighth-place Revolution from the fifth place Union.
Of the clubs to watch out of these four, it appears D.C. is the one that should demand our attention. A resurgence is taking place in the capital and these three other clubs should be grateful for results like Sunday’s where D.C. failed to grab all three points at home. They also close the season with five of their remaining six matches at home, where they are currently 8-2-2.
Montreal and Philadelphia, meanwhile, have targets on their backs. We’ll have to wait and see how they deal with the added pressure in the weeks to come, but this was a crucial win for the Impact to keep pace in the playoff race.