MONTREAL -- Going into this Wednesday's Amway Canadian Championship final second leg against Toronto FC, the Impact's prospects bode fairly well. They are coming off their most accomplished performance of 2014, where they rested the likes of Patrice Bernier and Justin Mapp against New England but executed a potentially useful game plan against TFC.
“Playing so well on Saturday, we want to replicate the same thing coming into Wednesday,” forward Jack McInerney told reporters on Tuesday. “We played a different formation last Wednesday against Toronto, changed it up this weekend, and with it going so well, I don’t see why we should change the way we play.”
A third-minute lead in their pockets, Montreal sat back against the Revs, capitalizing on another chance they created on the counter – albeit with the help of the cup-tied Issey Nakajima-Farran. The onus is on Toronto to score on Wednesday to avoid a fatal goalless draw, so this strategy could reward the Impact – if they take as good care of a Defoe, a Rey or an Osorio as they did of a Mullins, a Fagundez and a Nguyen.
Assistant coach Mauro Biello wouldn’t dive into the tactical details with the media, pointing out instead that the players’ increased ability to find solutions on the field must carry over to Wednesday’s final if the Impact are to pick up their ninth Voyageurs Cup – their second straight title as an MLS club – and join the New York Red Bulls and El Salvador’s Club Deportivo FAS in Group 3 of the CONCACAF Champions League.
“When we do that well, the players start to believe that they can, that they’re good players and that we can win,” Biello told reporters in French. “Tomorrow, we’re coming out against a team that’s going well right now. For us, it’s a step toward the right track.
“It’s extremely important that we grab that title,” Biello continued.
A title which, some would say, could qualify as an upset given how Montreal’s season has gone so far. But then again, the Impact pulled the proverbial rabbit out of their hat just last weekend.
“Nobody expected us to be at that level, and we were happy to respond positively to all the criticism,” defender Hassoun Camara said in French. “We want to build on that to put in a good performance against Toronto, a game that's all the more important given that it's a final and a derby."
