MONTREAL – What a difference a year makes.
”As far as statement games go, this one was pretty emphatic from the Montreal Impact—and the rest of Major League Soccer better be paying close attention.”
That’s what this correspondent wrote when the Impact rolled to a 5-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on Aug. 24, 2013. That victory lifted Montreal from third into first place in the Eastern Conference, and the club appeared to be hitting its stride down the stretch with the playoffs looming.
Montreal, of course, ended up qualifying for the post-season. But they backed into it, winning just two of their final 10 games before being humiliated 3-0 by Houston in the first round of the playoffs. Not for the first time, this writer got it spectacularly wrong.
Where did it all go wrong for Montreal? What happened to the Impact side who crushed the Dynamo on that warm August night? How did they go from one of the best teams in MLS last year to the worst team in the league in 2014?
These are all questions Montreal fans were no doubt asking themselves Wednesday night after the Impact threw away a two-goal lead before settling for a 2-2 draw against the L.A. Galaxy at Stade Saputo.
A year ago Montreal would have finished off the Galaxy. Those days are long gone. Now and then, the Impact can put together a solid half or 60 minutes, but a complete game performance? That’s beyond them, as Wednesday night showed.
“The one thing about our team, it is what it is where we are, but we have to keep fighting. … We’re not giving up,” Impact coach Frank Klopas told reporters after the game.
Montreal started very brightly, with the attacking quartet of Marco Di Vaio, Ignacio Piatti, Felipe Martins and Dilly Duka linking up effectively to terrorize L.A.’s three-man back line.
Piatti played a gorgeous, defence-splitting ball for Di Vaio in the third minute, only to see the Italian fire wide. Six minutes later, Di Vaio set up Felipe in the middle of the box, but the Brazilian’s attempt was deflected away by L.A. goalkeeper Brian Rowe.
The breakthrough finally came in the 28th minute, Di Vaio scoring into an empty net off a lovely passing sequence involving Duka, Piatti and Felipe that ripped apart the Galaxy defence. After scoring, Di Vaio rushed to the Impact bench and hugged teammate Karl Ouimette, who recently lost his sister to cancer.
L.A. responded by putting pressure on Montreal in the final third for the first time in the game, with Omar Gonzalez sending his header wide off a great cross from Landon Donovan.
The Impact doubled their advantage in the 43rd minute, this time Piatti completing a sweeping move after two great passes in the buildup from Felipe and Duka.
L.A. head coach Bruce Arena changed things up at the start of the second half, going with a four-man defence after introducing Robbie Rogers at left-back. The tactical switch paid instant dividends, with the Galaxy looking more balanced and assuming control of the game.
Wandrille Lefevre came in for injured central defender Matteo Ferrari at the restart, a move that unsettled the Impact. Juninho’s pass somehow found its way through to Gyasi Zardes who tapped it home from inside the six-yard box in the 59th minute.
Ouimette replaced Hassoun Camara (another injury substitution) on the right side of defence, and L.A. took advantage as substitute Alan Gordon deflected Donovan’s cross past goalkeeper Evan Bush five minutes later to level the score.
The game settled into a comfortable rhythm after that, with the Galaxy continuing to press and the Impact repelling their efforts to hold on for the draw.
Klopas cited Arena’s change in formation and the fact he had to take off Ferrari and Camara as the turning point in the contest.
“I think in the first half we were very good in transition. There was a lot more space [for us] to get at their back line, so I pushed our guys a little higher,” Klopas said. “They’re more comfortable in a 4-4-2 [formation]. That’s how they like to play, and I think making those two [injury] changes hurt us a little bit. We weren’t as good with the ball in the second half.”
NOTES: This was the only meeting of the MLS season between the clubs. L.A. leads the all-time series against Montreal with one win and two draws in three games… The Impact returns to MLS action on Saturday when they visit the New England Revolution. The team then returns home to host the New York Red Bulls next Wednesday in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League…