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Montreal Impact 1 – Seattle Sounders 0
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The Prelude to Battle
The Montreal Impact had a complicated away fixture to start the 2013 Major League Soccer season. The Canadian side travelled to Cascadia to face the Seattle Sounders. CenturyLink Field packed with almost 40,000 people was the venue for this match.
This was the debut match for Montreal head coach Marco Schällibaum. The Swiss tactician decided to line up his new side in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Troy Perkins got the start in goal. He was playing behind the back line consisting of Jeb Brovsky, Matteo Ferrari, Alessandro Nesta and Hassoun Camara. Patrice Bernier was slotted in the defensive midfield role. The midfield, from left to right featured Justin Mapp, Felipe, Davy Arnaud and newcomer Andrea Pisanu. Arnaud moves back into the center after spending 2012 as a right midfielder. As expected, Designated Player Marco Di Vaio was the lone striker.
Seattle played a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Eddie Johnson up front. Mauro Rosales was playing ahead of the midfield consisting of Steve Zakuani, Andy Rose, Brad Evans and Mario Martinez. Leonardo Gonzalez, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Zach Scott and DeAndre Yedlin defended Michael Gspurning in goal.
The Opening 45
The match started off with Seattle grabbing the opening chance. In the fifth minute, strong pressure from the Sounders forced Ferrari into giving the ball away right to Rosales. Rosales slid the ball over to Johnson who curled a left-footed effort passed opposite top corner.
Montreal answered back in the 18th minute. After Camara's interception, the ball made its way to Pisanu on the left flank. The Bologna loanee placed an accurate through ball to Di Vaio inside the Seattle box. Alone, in front of goal, Di Vaio could not manage to guide the ball past Gspurning in goal.
Johnson was back for more in the 25th minute. Seattle recovered a ball inside the Impact defensive end and hit an early cross in Johnson's path. The Sounders striker tapped the ball on the wrong side of the post.
In the 35th minute, the Impact made up for the earlier miss. Recovering the ball in midfield, Di Vaio found Felipe in the middle of the pitch. The Brazilian shrugged off a few tackles and lobbed a ball over the top for Arnaud. The Impact captain casually chipped the keeper from outside the box using the outside of his foot.
Despite trailing in possession, Montreal had an important lead going into the halftime break.
The Second Half
At the break, Schällibaum decided to swap Mapp with Sanna Nyassi. The Gambian did not wait long to make his mark.
Five minutes in, the speedy winger dribbled his way into the Seattle penalty area, only to be challenged by Gspurning. The Sounders were unable to clear the loose ball and gave up a decent chance to Di Vaio, who tried to lob the ball into the empty goal. Seattle was able to head clear the shot before crossing the line.
Ten minutes later, the Impact were threatening again, this time off a corner kick. From the left side, Arnaud flicked on a ball aimed at the near post. The deflection lined up perfectly with Ferrari alone standing atop the six-yard-box. The center back was unable to head the ball on target.
The following 10 minutes went back and forth. In the 64th, Di Vaio sent a ball out left to Nyassi. Nyassi hit a cross to an on-coming Arnaud inside the box. Arnaud's bouncing header deflected right off Gspurning's crossbar and stayed out.
Two minutes later, Evans was inches away from levelling the score. He controlled a ball from just over 20-yards-out and curled his shot right off Perkins's left post. The ball bounced back in front, but Montreal were able to clear.
In the 81st minute, Johnson should have had the equalizer. A ball crossed in from the right side landed in front of Johnson, but the American international's sliding effort rebounded off the crossbar.
With plenty of chances for both sides, Montreal picked up the away victory. They only won twice on the road in all of 2012 combined.
The Final Word: The Impact played a textbook away match
The Montreal Impact know they have a tough start to the season with two back-to-back West coast matches. Coming into CenturyLink, one of the toughest venues to play in, Montreal had a game plan and executed it to perfection.
In the first half, the Sounders had possession most of the time. The Impact however had the better chances. Playing in Seattle, the Impact knew they wouldn't be able to dominate the 90 minutes possession-wise. They defended appropriately by closing down the middle of the pitch, staying composed and always had pressure on the ball carrier.
When the Impact recovered the ball, they didn't waste it. The center midfield triangle consisting of Felipe, Arnaud and Bernier was able to dictate play and create plenty of chances. Often enough, the Impact would hold onto the ball and wait for a run from Di Vaio or one of the outside midfielders.
Counter attacking was also an important aspect of the Impact game plan. Once in possession, the Impact played a ball up to an outside midfield or Di Vaio who would come back to half field to collect the ball. Di Vaio usually left the ball for a center midfielder or send it out wide himself. The ball would return to Di Vaio as he made a run forward behind the opposing defenders. Although he was offside a few times, the Italian normally only needs one chance finish.
With Arnaud's goal in the first half, Montreal compressed even more and stood up defensively. The entire back line had solid match. Ferrari and Nesta continued their impressive play together from last season. Brovsky and Camara on the flanks were just as good.
This will probably be similar to how the Impact will play all season. Montreal will try to remain solid while defending, often dropping nine or ten guys behind the ball and look for a quick counter attack. If there's no room for a counter, the midfield will keep possession for as long as they can. When the Impact does not play a possession dominating team, they will try to be the side controlling everything.
Montreal Impact Line-up
1 Perkins
5 Brovsky
13 Ferrari
14 Nesta
6 Camara
8 Bernier
21 Mapp
22 Arnaud
7 Felipe
31 Pisanu
9 Di Vaio
Substitutions: (45) Nyassi in for Mapp; (69) Mallace in for Pisanu; (84) Iapichino in for Camara
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