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The Impact played their third game in eight days on Saturday against the New England Revolution. They’re busy schedule will continue next week when they come back home to host New York in a Champions League fixture on Wednesday night.
With many injuries on their roster, the Impact were expected to go with a younger Impact squad without some of the familiar faces we’ve gotten used too.
"We will be rotating the lineup on Saturday," explained assistant coach Mauro Biello prior to the game. "Based on the number of games we've played recently and on the number of injuries we have right now."
The Revs were undefeated in five games, making the task for the Impact just that much harder, away form home, and with a depleted line-up.
The Opening 45
Interestingly enough, Perkins was in net for the Impact after Bush got the start for the past few games. He was tested early from a bullet of a free kick that he punched to the side.
But after a first 10 minutes spent in the Impact box, it was the bleu-blanc-noir who struck first. Danso sent Mclnerney on the run, who seemed to foul the defender and get past him in the box. Mclnerney then fed Mallace in the middle, who easily tucked it in. It was his first goal in the MLS.
In the 23rd minute, Kelyn Rowe unleashed a bullet from outside the box that was a little too much for keeper Perkins to handle. After a failed clearance attempt, Rowe got the ball and immediately went for the shot. Perkins reacted nicely but he didn’t manage to get enough on it.
Just two minutes later in the 25th minute, New England went up by one with their second goal in two minutes. It was started by Nguyen near the middle of the field, who backheeled the ball to Davies and was then off to the races. He received the ball again on the edge of the box, passed Lefevre, and chipped it past Perkins to put the Revs up by one.
In stoppage time of the first half, Perkins made a beautiful save off Davies’ shot to keep the score at 2-1. The attacker had found himself all alone near Perkins after a clearance was quickly brought back and the offside trap failed to work.
The Second Half
Davies started the second like he ended the first, with an excellent opportunity. After Caldwell made his way into the box, he fed Davies, but his shot went just over the bar.
In the 53rd minute, Eric Miller, who was having a quiet game so far, received the ball from a good sliding effort from Mclnerney. He ran in from the right side but his bullet of a shot went off the post.
With such a young and inexperienced squad, the last 30 minutes is where it would be very difficult for these players to keep up with an experienced squad such as New England. The Revs were spending more and more time in the Impact half, but so far, the score remained 2-1.
In the 62nd minute, the task went from difficult to almost impossible for the Impact. Sitting on a yellow card already, Krol went it for a very sloppy tackle on Rowe that got him a second yellow card and had him sent off.
Just two minutes, Perkins got some help from Miller who cleared the ball from the line after Nguyen passed a few defenders and managed to tuck it under Perkins.
The Impact was in a bad state. Down a man and a goal, they didn’t see much of the ball in the remainder of the match and had a hard time making anything out of it when they did. If anything, they were lucky to escape this game with only a 2-1 loss. Still, the Impact’s young players showed heart and tenacity, and this game was a good sign for the future.
"I've never been in this kind of situation before with all the injuries, but I thought the guys left everything on the field tonight," said Impact head coach Frank Klopas. "More than anything, our young players stepped in, took the challenge and I'm extremely happy for them. They reacted well against a strong team. I'm excited about the future of this team."
Man of the Match
Callum Mallace
Mallace hasn’t gotten many starts, but he took full advantage of getting the start against the Revs. He scored his first ever MLS goal and managed to have a decent game after that as well. Although he hasn’t gotten many starts, he’s played some decent minutes this year, usually coming in for Bernier later in the second half.
"It's nice to get that first goal," said Mallace. "I've been here for a while now and have played some significant minutes this year, so it was nice to get that first one. The team showed a lot of heart and determination. We had some young guys out there and we went into the game with the attitude to give it all we had.
Perkins had an excellent night in goal despite allowing two goals in quick succession. Making his first start since August 9, he made a total of eight saves tonight, and kept the Impact in it with some amazing saves on the likes of Jones and Davies in particular. Miller also had an excellent match, hitting the post and clearing the ball off the line to save a goal.
Montreal line-up
Perkins
Miller
Krol
Danso
Lefevre
Mallace
Gagnon-Lapare
Romero
Duka
Jackson-Hamel
Mclnerney
Montreal substitutions
Pearce for Lefevre, Nakajima-Farran for Romero, Beland-Goyette for Jackson-Hamel
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