WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Montreal Impact earned its first point on the road, tying D.C. United 1-1 (0-0 at halftime) on Wednesday at RFK Stadium, in Washington, D.C.
GOAL: Corradi heads it home
The Impact opened the scoring in the 68th minute, when forward Bernardo Corradi converted a cross from Lamar Neagle, who came in the game three minutes earlier, that curled behind the D.C. defence. The Italian striker headed the ball into an open net, far post, as he was able to find space behind defender Chris Korb. This is the second goal in as many games for Corradi, with assists from Neagle, who set up a second goal this season and midfielder Justin Mapp, who registered his 45th career assist.
Forward Maicon Santos, who entered the game at the hour mark, equalized for D.C. on a long strike in the 72nd minute. He cut towards center field and fired a left-footed shot short side from about 25 yards out, beating Impact goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts low to his left, scoring his fourth of the season.
“We will take the point tonight. We are making steps and we feel that within the team,” said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch. “Now, our next step is to figure out how to lock down and protect the lead. For us to come from the Dallas game to this one and get a point was good. It’s hard when you play on the road, and we handled ourselves well for the most part.”
“If we are being honest with ourselves, we let two points slip away,” said captain Davy Arnaud. “It was a good performance overall and we took the lead. The positive thing is that we feel we are playing well enough to eventually turn these good performances into wins.”
“A point on the road is better than coming home with nothing,” said Lamar Neagle, who made his seventh appearance of the season. “We had a lot of chances and we definitely could have come out with three points from this game.”
The match’s first real scoring chance came in the 22nd minute, when Justin Mapp, cutting towards center field from the left flank, played a short pass to Davy Arnaud. His off-balance shot from the top of the box went over the bar.
A deep ball from midfielder Collen Warner down the left flank in the 67th minute was one-timed towards the left post by Arnaud, where a sliding Corradi deflected the ball just wide of goal.
In the 87th minute, a flurry in the box following a corner kick resulted in two shots from Patrice Bernier that were blocked by the defence, and a third shot from Arnaud missed just wide right of the keeper. The Impact captain surpassed the 20,000 minutes played mark in the 62nd minute.
Impact goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, making his eighth consecutive start, came up big on two occasions in the second half against midfielder Dwayne De Rosario. He came charging out of his net in the 49th minute to deny De Rosario a scoring chance when he slid with both feet to strip him of the ball as D.C. midfielder tried to dribble his way around the goalkeeper. Then three minutes later, he came out to deny the Canadian international again, making himself big to stop the attacking midfielder’s chip.
D.C. United remains undefeated in five straight games, but still has not been able to win a second game in a row in 85 consecutive matches, dating back to 2009.
Next game
The Impact will have a 10-day break, playing its next match on Saturday, April 28, at Olympic Stadium, against the Portland Timbers at 2pm (ET). The organization invites all supporters to join La Garde to “Defend the North.”
Season tickets are still available online at impactmontreal.com or by calling 514-328-3668 while individual for all games presented at the Olympic Stadium are also available through the Admission network.
HIGHLIGHTS: DC 1, MTL 1
LINEUPS:
MTL – GK-Donovan Ricketts, D-Zarek Valentin, D-Shavar Thomas, D-Matteo Ferrari, D-Tyson Wahl, Collen Warner, Felipe, Davy Arnaud, Justin Mapp (Patrice Bernier 73’); F – Sanna Nyassi (Lamar Neagle 65’), Bernardo Corradi (Justin Braun 82’)
Unused Subs: GK – Greg Sutton; D – Josh Gardner, Jeb Brovsky; M-Sinisa Ubiparipovic
D.C. – GK Joe Willis; D – Chris Korb, Daniel Woolard (Lewis Neal 85’), Brandon McDonald, Robbie Russell; M – Perry Kitchen, Branko Boskovic (Maicon Santos 60’), Nick DeLeon, Andy Najar (Danny Cruz 72’), Dwayne De Rosario; F – Chris Pontius
GOALS:
MTL - Corradi (Neagle, Mapp) 68’
D.C. – Santos (Kitchen) 72’
CAUTIONS:
MTL – Wahl 74’
D.C. – Pontius 79’
