The biggest road game in IMFC history ended 1-1 on Wednesday night, at the unfriendly confines of Estadio Azteca, but the score line doesn’t tell the whole story.
Although the home side dominated possession and shots, which was expected when playing in hostile territory, the Impact played a solid game defensively.
Here are three stats that tell a little more of the story:
18
The number of tackles won by IMFC in the game, compared to just 12 for Club América.
39
The Impact was able to break up a number of attacking plays, even before the Eagles could get off a shot, with 39 clearances throughout the match. The home side had just 13. IMFC defender Laurent Ciman had 14 of them himself.
1
Number of red cards that SHOULD have been given to Club América!
During the final minute of the first half, forward Dominic Oduro was on a break just outside the box and ahead of the last defender when his shirt was intentionally pulled by Osvaldo Martinez, denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. The midfielder was given just a yellow card on the foul, when it should have been a red according to FIFA guidelines, defining the ‘last man’ foul as:
Denying a clear goal scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick. Referees should consider the following circumstances when deciding whether to send off a player for denying a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity:
• the distance between the offence and the goal
• the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball
• the direction of the play
• the location and number of defenders
• the offence which denies an opponent an obvious goal scoring opportunity
• may be an offence that incurs a direct free kick or an indirect free kick
The Oduro foul seemed to fit all of these parameters, yet Martinez was not ejected from the game. In fact, he was substituted at the beginning of the second half for the player who eventually scored the tying goal, Oribe Peralta!
Despite the bad call, IMFC left Mexico City with a fantastic result and destiny now lies at Olympic Stadium for the decisive game on April 29 (8pm EDT on TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690), a night not to miss!
