Last Sunday’s win against the New York Red Bulls fits into a trend that’s getting clearer and clearer: the Impact enjoys when the stakes are high and picks up results in cup games at home.
Since the Impact joined MLS, it has posted a spectacular 12-1-4 record in MLS Cup Playoffs, Canadian Championship and CONCACAF Champions League play.
As Hassoun Camara said on Sunday, “to each game its story and truth”. The Bleu-blanc-noir has gotten such results in various ways, but against this New York team that loves to have the ball, the defensive effort put forth by Mauro Biello’s men was nothing short of remarkable.
The back four, with Camara (6), Víctor Cabrera (36), Laurent Ciman (23) and Ambroise Oyongo (2) was extremely disciplined…
Green triangles: tackles
Yellow triangles: defensive blocks
Blue triangles: interceptions
Purple triangles: clearances
Orange triangles: recoveries
Credit for all stats: Opta
… the midfield three of Patrice Bernier (8), Marco Donadel (33) and Hernán Bernardello (30) – and, later on, Calum Mallace (16) and Harry Shipp (14) – were crucial against the likes of Kljestan, Felipe and McCarty…
… and the front three also contributed. Nacho Piatti (10) and Dominic Oduro (7) – as well as substitute Johan Venegas (27) – dropped deep to support their full back, and centre forward Matteo Mancosu was challenging opponents in his defensive half beyond the 85th minute.
“Everyone was sharp,” said team captain Patrice Bernier. “Even at the end, when they got big chances, Bush made some huge saves, Ambroise threw himself in front of shots. That’s a team with a warrior-like mentality.”
Behind them all, goalkeeper Evan Bush maintained his unbeaten cup record that stands at 11 wins and two ties. Through these 13 games, Bush made 29 stops on 33 shots, including three against the Red Bulls.
One of his best interventions, however, didn’t count as a save. The story of the game would have been much different had Bush not admirably stepped up in front of Bradley Wright-Phillips in the opening minutes.
“I was watching some film, and Wright-Phillips had a goal in a pretty similar situation against Philadelphia,” Bush said. “He got played in between the two centre backs. It was a bouncing ball. He got a touch over Andre Blake and followed it up to tap it in. When he came through, I was in a position where I either had to stay on my line and let him take the ball down, or come and make him commit to a play. The first thought was that he’d played it like that a couple of weeks ago. So when he tried to chip it over my head, I was ready for it.”
