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Posted by
Steve Bottjer,
April 23, 2015 |
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Steve Bottjer
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@BottjerRNO
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Montreal earn 1-1 stalemate against Club América in first leg of the Champions League finals
The Montreal Impact continued to defy expectations on Wednesday night with another strong performance against Club América at Estadio Azteca, earning a hard fought 1-1 draw and putting the Canadian club in a solid position towards becoming the first MLS club to win the CONCACAF Champions League tournament.
Amidst a deafening and constant roar the incredibly loud Club América fans, Montreal showed fantastic resiliency to hold up defensively against sustained attacking pressure from the home side.
Despite the formidable attacking ability of Club América it would be the Impact that would score first in the 16th minute, with former TFC striker Dominic Oduro delivering the cross that Ignacio Piatti received and fired past keeper Moisés Muñoz.
While the Impact ultimately came away with a well-earned draw and a massive away goal, the visiting side was also somewhat unlucky not to escape Mexico with a victory, as a questionable call by the referee and then a late free-kick in the 89th minute lead to Club América striker Oribe Peralta converting a header from in close to tie things up with mere minutes left.
The Impact will play the second and decisive leg of the Champions League finals next Wednesday, April 29, at Olympic Stadium (TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690), in front of the second largest crowd in club history - a sellout of 59,020.
Game Highlights
Post-Match Reaction
"It is obviously a good result for us, but we know it's not over," said Impact head coach Frank Klopas. "I'm proud of my team and we're very happy to be going home to our great fans. We'll be ready to play an even better match."
"I think it's a great result for us," said midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker. "It was not an easy place to come and get a result. At times, we played some great football and we showed what we were capable as a team. We could have done a little bit more some other times, but in the end, we kept ourselves in it."
"We were compact tonight and we knew they would have more possession," added forward Dominic Oduro. "The main focus was to hit them on the counter and we did that well. We showed a lot of composure as a team and we're going back to Montreal with hopes of winning it at home."
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