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After a successful midweek victory against the New York Red Bull in the Concacaf Champions League, the Impact stays in Montreal and gets set to host the San Jose Earthquakes in one of their rare visits to Montreal. The task won’t be easy as the Impact gets set to play their 5th game in just 15 days.
"We will probably rotate some guys as we've played a lot of games, while different players will get some playing time," added Biello. "We are preparing for a good stretch run to end the season, for our next Champions League game on October 22 and next season."
The Quakes will come out strong and desperate as they sit in eight in the Western Conference, still in the run for one of those final playoff spots. They have a particularly attacking and physical style, which should make for a very interesting game considering Montreal has been doing good offensively as of late as well.
"They have a knack for making things hard for their opponents," explained Eric Miller. "They try to get under your skin. They are going to hit you and be physical the whole game. Nothing will be easy, but as long as we stay focused and committed to our game, we will be fine. But they also have some quality players, like Wondolowski, who much like Di Vaio, will hurt you if you give him time and space."
The Opening 45
It took only three minutes for the Impact to get a high quality chance. Mclnerney, chasing the ball near the edge of the box, fed Piatti on the other side. The Argentine went for the small chip over the keeper, but it went just high after the keeper deflected it.
Following that opportunity, the Impact took control of the game and was moving the ball around swiftly in the San Jose area. The Impact knew that San Jose played a physical game, making life difficult for their opponents, but the Impact were too quick thus far.
In the 17th, Montreal got lucky when Harris was fouled for interfering with Perkins off a San Jose corner. The ball ended up in the back of the net but would be immediately waved off in favor of a Montreal free kick.
A well-constructed move by the Impact just a minute later gave Romero the chance to take a shot from right outside the box, but he didn’t get everything on it and it was easily stopped by the keeper.
Duka was having a good game so far, and midway through the first he managed to keep the ball nicely on the right side, fed Mallace, who made a quick pass to Felipe. In scoring position, Felipe unleashed a shot but it went just wide and the game remained scoreless.
Mclnerney was making the start for Di Vaio today, Klopas opting to give the Italian a break after a tough stretch of games. Mclnerney got an opportunity in the 30th minute off Romero’s cross, but his attempted bicycle kick didn’t even touch the ball.
After a slow start, Mclnerney was getting more and more and ore involved in this game. This time on transition, Mclnerney fed a streaking Piatti, but the Argentine’s shot went just wide. The Impact was having a great game so far, bringing the game to San Jose, but their finishing was just a little off.
Piatti almost scored a glorious goal in the 38th minute. Romero fed Piatti down the right side. The Argentine approached the edge of the box, weighed his options, and went for a cross side chip, but the keeper got a hand on it to push it over the bar.
Romero was having an excellent game thus far after his finishing received criticism after the mid-week game against the Red Bull. As the first was coming to a close, Romero went for a shot from outside the box that curled just wide. Piatti was all over the ball in the first as well. He created loads of space in the middle and came close to scoring twice already.
The Second Half
Considering the first the Impact had, the bleu-blanc-noir would definitely feel like they had the win in their own hands tonight. They played sound defensively and created a lot offensively, but they were failing to put the ball in.
Piatti struggled to continue in the second facing some obvious discomfort, forcing Di Vaio to make an appearance on his night off. The Argentine had signaled Klopas asking to get off.
Montreal slowed down dramatically after Piatti was taken off, showing how much of an influence the Argetine had on this Impact team. The Impact changed to a 4-4-2, with Di Vaio and Mclnerney on top, creating a space in the middle where Piatti was that the Impact wasn’t able to fill.
San Jose came inches away from scoring the opening goal in the 70th minute. The cross came in for a wide-open Harris, but his header was weak and went just wide of the net.
A minute later San Jose came in with another attack, and Cronin’s one-timer from right outside the box was hit with the inside of his foot and ended up on top of the net.
In the 81st minute, the breakthrough finally came for the Impact. Mclnerney, who was having a quiet game so far, scored one of the easiest goals he will ever score, earning his 7th goal for the Impact. Di Vaio spun and hit a volley from outside the box, forcing the keeper to make a nice save. The rebound, however, came right to Mclnerney, who had no trouble cleaning up.
Klopas noticed the hole in the middle caused by Piatti’s absence, and opted to bring on Larrea in the midfield in place of Mclneney. With only a few minutes left, Klopas wanted to regain control of the middle and secure the three points.
In the 88th minute, Duka, who had a great game, really put this one to bed. Turning a defender inside out on the keeper’s left, Duka took a step to the right and slotted the ball into the far corner, giving the keeper no chance and securing the three points for the Impact.
The game would end 2-0 and the Impact walk away with the win in this one. They play next Saturday against the Columbus Crew, in Columbus.
"I thought the guys gave everything, all the way to the end," said head coach Frank Klopas. "We lost a little bit of the momentum in the second half, but I think we got it back, even though a lot of the player's on our team have a lot of minutes played. There are still moments where we lose focus and concentration, but our ability now to move and create chances is very good. Everyone contributed to the game on the field tonight and I enjoyed watching everyone play as a team."
"We played well tonight and created a lot of opportunities," said Di Vaio. "It was harder for us in the second half because we've had a lot of games lately and have been travelling around. It was hard, but we played well, controlled the game and we deserved to win."
Man of the Match
Dilly Duka
Dilly Duka has played a lot of games as of late. He should’ve been substituted early in this one because he played so much as of late, but he played on and gave another excellent performance for the Impact. He held the ball well in the final third and even showed off his finishing, scoring a beauty near the end of the match.
Hats off to Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, who made another start for the Impact tonight, but this time as a left back. The Quebec native from Magog gave a stellar performance and was a reason the Impact got the shutout tonight against San Jose. Romero and Piatti also had excellent games, but were both subbed out early in the second half.
Montreal Impact Line-up
Perkins
Miller
Pearce
Lefèvre
Gagnon-Laparé
Mallace
Felipe
Romero Duka
Piatti
McInerney
Montreal substitutions
Romero for Nakajima-Farran, Piatti for Di Vaio, Mclnerney for Larrea
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