MONTREAL – Two points dropped in a ditch, never to be seen again.
All was well for the Montreal Impact after the first 27 minutes of Saturday's 2-2 draw with Orlando City. Ignacio Piatti had provided a feel good moment, honoring his grandfather’s recent passing after he scored on a penalty kick. Jack McInerney then scored a fantastic second, lifting the ball over Donovan Ricketts’ head and into the net after Seb Hines missed his headed backpass.
Three minutes later, OCSC were level. Two “soft goals,” as head coach Frank Klopas would call them after the game turned a 2-0 home lead into a dispiriting draw, and pointed toward a worrisome early season trend.
To the point: If a 2-2 draw after being up 2-0 at Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions League was bittersweet, this one was just bitter for Montreal. It was a game they felt they could, and should, have won.
“We let ourselves down,” midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker told reporters after the game. “We gifted two goals away. That was a game that we should have finished at 2-0 and went on to get more. We gave them a bit too much respect to come back into the game.”
Montreal’s start had been impressive, given the circumstances. The Impact weren’t exactly sure of how Orlando would line up, and they made some last-minute adjustments after seeing hints of a five-man backline in the pregame warmup.
The rise was spectacular, and the fall was brutal. After going 2-0 up, the Impact got too casual, Klopas lamented. They failed to track Kaká on the first and handed Pedro Ribeiro a golden opportunity to counter quickly for the second.
“We give up two soft goals, which is not typical of us this year,” Klopas said. “We were much better in the second half. We had them pinned in and we were better with the ball. Still, in the final third, they did a good job clogging the middle and getting behind the ball.”
But Orlando did drop deep in the second half – an unlikely scenario had they not gotten back into the game. Reo-Coker felt that the Lions gained too much confidence as Montreal’s pressing declined late in the first half.
“I think that’s something, as a team, that we have to take responsibility for,” Reo-Coker said. “For us to have a good season, we have to play a high tempo for 90 minutes, as much as we can. If we play at a high tempo, I think every team in the league will struggle against us.”
