The Montreal Impact finally got payback on New York City FC.
After two defeats against the expansion side, the Impact finally won, beating NYCFC 3-2 at Yankee Stadium Saturday afternoon. It was a just reward for a game plan well applied.
In the first-ever game between the sides, on June 13 in New York, Montreal were unable to get their counterattack going. NYCFC played around them and ran away 3-1 winners. In the second, on July 4 at home, Montreal controlled the ball, shooting 25 times. But they scored only once while David Villa tallied twice.
Just when NYCFC thought they had all the answers, the Impact changed the questions.
“If you watch a lot of their games, they defend with two guys a lot,” goalkeeper Evan Bush told reporters. “So you get a lot of chances on the break, and we had a few chances there, right before they got the penalty, where we could have made it 3-0, really put the game to bed. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that, but we were strong enough to continue the game and pull out the win.”
Montreal’s first half, in particular, was an impeccable road performance. NYCFC enjoyed the majority of the possession (53 percent), but the Impact showed that you don’t need the ball to control a game.
The hosts shot twice and didn’t score. The Impact scored twice through Dominic Oduro – who kept the NYCFC backline guessing throughout – and Ignacio Piatti.
“At 2-0, we felt good,” head coach Frank Klopas said. “We knew the game wasn’t over, because you’re playing against a team that has a lot of quality. We knew that some of those players were going to come in and they could have an impact in the game.”
The second half was a trickier affair. Villa scored on a penalty kick drawn by Thomas McNamara, who then replied a minute after Piatti had made it 3-1 for the visitors.
And yet the Montreal Impact, the team that couldn't win on the road for so long, will remain a playoff team through this weekend thanks to a second away win of the season.
“[The PK goal] got the fans happy a little bit, and at the end of the day, we just kept our composure,” Oduro said. “We didn’t let it get to us. We kept our heads up high and we even got a third goal. Unfortunately, they came back really quick, but overall, we got the job done. To come on the road and play like we played, it takes guts. It shows the kind of team that we want to be, right now.”
