MONTREAL – Marco Schällibaum always described himself as an attack-minded coach and his offensive style is clearly beginning to rub off on the Montreal Impact.
After an enthralling 5-3 win against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, the Impact now lead Major League Soccer in goals scored per game at 2.09.
Wednesday programming alert: Watch Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Montreal Impact in the final of the Amway Canadian Championship live on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet Pacific. Coverage begins at 7pm PT/10pm ET.
In spite of a 3-1 advantage over the Union after the first 45 minutes, the Impact remained extremely eager to get forward in the second half, even to the point of leaving a lot of space for Philadelphia to potentially exploit – Patrice Bernier was left alone to do the bulk of the grunt work in midfield. But given the quality scoring opportunities that the Impact were continuously able to generate, a more conservative approach never really felt necessary.
One would, however, expect Montreal to play a much tighter defensive game on Wednesday when they take on the Whitecaps in Vancouver in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final, though Schällibaum explained to reporters on Monday that he wouldn’t say no to more of the same gung-ho approach.
“Why hold my players back when they really want to get forward? Whatever the Whitecaps do on Wednesday, we’re going to play our game,” Schällibaum said.
Forward Marco Di Vaio, who has notched 11 goals and two assists in 13 games in all competitions so far this season, has been a major factor in the Impact’s impressive offensive production.
In contrast with the first few months after Di Vaio’s arrival in Montreal last season, the Italian is also benefitting from some excellent distribution from midfield. Argentine newcomer Andres Romero and a rejuvenated Justin Mapp have fared remarkably well in that respect.
Though the Whitecaps managed to keep the Impact’s attack at bay and earn a 0-0 draw in the first leg, Di Vaio expects there to be far more scoring opportunities when both teams meet again on Wednesday.
“It’s going to be a different game from the one we saw in the first leg, where they only came here (Montreal) to defend,” Di Vaio said. “(The second leg) won’t be easy, but there will be more spaces to take advantage of.”
Having enjoyed a 10-day break before Saturday’s fixture, the second leg comes at a much more favorable time for the Impact as opposed to the first leg where they had played a considerable amount of matches in a very short period of time beforehand.
The Impact won’t, however, be able to count on Davy Arnaud, Daniele Paponi, Andrea Pisanu and Nelson Rivas, who remain injured.
Hassoun Camara didn’t dress for Saturday’s fixture after picking up a knock in training, but will be available against the Whitecaps and will likely regain his spot at fullback at the expense of Dennis Iapichino.
Italian veteran defender Alessandro Nesta, who returned to the starting lineup on Saturday after re-injuring his adductor, was part of the Impact team that travelled to Vancouver on Monday evening and should get the start on the BC Place artificial surface.
After a goalless draw in the first leg, nothing less than a victory for the Whitecaps will suffice to win the Voyageurs Cup, while the Impact only needs a draw with goals.
Given the Impact’s scoring form and their propensity for getting forward, they’re certainly confident that they can bag a crucial away goal or two and take home that coveted trophy which has eluded them since 2008.
The Soccer Show with Nigel Reed: Tune in to Sportsnet 590 The FAN’s every Thursday at 8pm ET to listen to The Soccer Show, Canada’s foremost soccer weekly co-hosted by Nigel Reed and ex-NASL champion Bob Iarusci. For more details and to listen to past shows, CLICK HERE
