Montreal Impact Vs New York City FC: 3 things we learned – Stalemate in playoff battle

A key playoff-berth battle for both New York City FC and the Montreal Impact ended in a 1-1 draw on Saturday night. Here are three things we learned from the Eastern Conference matchup.

With both clubs entering Saturday night’s match in the top six of the Eastern Conference, the tensions were high New York City FC traveled to face a tricky Montreal Impact. This encounter held significance in the playoff battle. In the end, however, neither club was able to find a way to win as it finished 1-1.

New York City came out looking for the opener and would find the back of the net in the 17th minute when Rudy Camacho turned a cross into his own goal.

Montreal would get the equalizer not long after, a deflection from the NYCFC defender sent Sean Johnson the wrong way on Michael Azira’s initial shot. Ignacio Piatti’s touch to set up Azira’s goal was a touch of class.

The second half was a hard fought stalemate that yielded no goals as both clubs must go in search of three points next week.

Here are three things we learned from the intriguing and even 1-1 draw.

3. NYCFC losing contact at the top

It has not been a very good last few weeks for NYCFC. They have not won since August 12th and have now slipped completely out of the race for the top two spots in the East. As it stands, the New York club will most certainly be playing in the first round of the playoffs and it could be the Impact they face. That is no easy tie, as this draw perfectly illustrated.

The Columbus Crew are onrushing following a win over the Colorado Rapids and are only three points behind NYCFC. Without mentioning the playoffs, NYCFC cannot be happy with the way things are going at the moment.

October has to be a better month to help raise morale entering the postseason. Playoff sport is about peaking at the right time. That is precisely what Dome Torrent’s are not doing. Do New York still have Patrick Vieira’s number?