With Didier Drogba making his first start for the Impact, the stage was set for an interesting clash between two MLS Eastern Conference sides seeking an important three points to make a strong playoff push.
Didier Drogba 27’ (1-0)
The goal
The action leading up to this goal starts in Montreal’s own half. The Impact moved the ball up the pitch and then out to the right flank. Justin Mapp played the ball in space for an overlapping Nigel Reo-Coker who crossed it into the box for Didier Drogba. The Ivorian trapped his ball while spinning away from his defender and rolled a shot into goal.
Why it happened
The speed of play was an important factor in this goal sequence. Starting from a throw-in deep inside its own half, Montreal moved the ball around from one end to other quickly and efficiently, finishing off with a chance on goal.
From the back, Donny Toia was under minor pressure from Chicago and opted to play a longer pass into midfielder for Ignacio Piatti. This pass was able to bypass six Fire players from the play. Piatti held up the ball well with his back towards the goal and laid it off for Andres Romeo nearby. Romero quickly played Calum Mallace, who proceeded to switch the point of attack towards the right side.
Playing forward with speed is not only on counter attacks. The quicker the team plays forward, the less time opposing teams have to get organised and get in its defensive shape.
Mallace’s ball did much more than simply switch the field, instead it put Chicago full back Greg Cochrane into a tricky situation. Justin Mapp collected Mallace’s pass deep in the midfield forcing Cochrane to make a decision either to hold his ground or to pressure Mapp immediately. With Reo-Coker recognising the potential to overlap and thus creating a 2v1 on the flank, Cochrane could not afford to be aggressive and instead was passive trying to buy time for his teammates to help him out. It was not enough as Mapp kept advancing with the ball until he passed to Reo-Coker in crossing position.
Reo-Coker sent a one-touch cross into the box for target man Didier Drogba. Drogba showed his target man qualities and did incredibly well to use his body to not only shield off his defender, but also trap the ball bringing it down to his feet and turning towards goal. Drogba was able to do this all in one action and was left with a simple finish to cap off a great team goal sequence and scoring his first of three goals in the match.
