HARRISON, New Jersey – The Montreal Impact closed out group play in the CONCACAF Champions League thanks to a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena on Wednesday night, on a goal by Jack McInerney.
With the draw, the bleu-blanc-noir finishes atop its group with 10 points and is currently holding down the 4th seed for the quarter-final knockout series set to begin in February 2015, with a couple of games still to be played. If the seeding remains unchanged, the Impact will get home field advantage in the quarter-finals, playing the home leg at Olympic Stadium in the return match.
"Being up 1-0 and giving up that late goal is hard to take, but taking a step back and seeing all the good work we did to go undefeated in the group is positive," said Calum Mallace. "We wanted to finish top four to get the home game in the second leg, but whoever we play, they will be a good team and we will have to be ready."
"I was convinced that we were finally going to get that elusive win in New York, but they tied it up on an unlucky play," explained Patrice Bernier. "But there were a lot of positives from this tournament. We went undefeated and finished the top of the group. We now have to look towards the quarter-final series next year and look for a good performance at Olympic Stadium."
McInerney, after missing a golden chance in the first half when his chip went over the net, made good in the 71st minute. He tapped home a cross from Andrés Romero from inside the six yard box after the Argentine dribbled past two defenders and played the ball through the box to the American striker.
Midfielder Conor Lade, brought in from a loan with the New York Cosmos to play the game, tied things up for the Red Bulls in the 85th minute on a strange play in the box.
"There were some guys that we didn't want to risk, they looked a little fatigued so we had to make the changes we did," said Frank Klopas about wanting to score a second goal and go for the win. "They dropped back and were waiting to capitalize on our mistakes. I think we forced things sometimes too much, but when we played through the wings, we were good."
IMFC was forced to make an early change when Issey Nakajima-Farran came in for Felipe, who injured his ankle in the 12th minute.
Despite the Impact having 58% of the possession, the New York Red Bulls found the better scoring chances in the first half, but Impact keeper Evan Bush was sharp. On two occasions he came charging out to dive at the feet of Red Bulls forward Saer Sene who was breaking in alone on goal, 15 minutes apart. Smack in the middle of those stops, Bush dove to his left in the 34th minute, catching a long distance drive by Ruben Bover that was curling to the short post.
The Impact returns home for its season finale at Stade Saputo this Saturday, at 4pm against D.C. United for the final matchup of Marco Di Vaio’s illustrious career. Special promotions, initiatives and giveaways are planned for his tribute and for fan appreciation day. Excellent tickets still remain for the game through ticketmaster.ca or by calling the Stade Saputo ticket office.
Lineups
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Hassoun Camara, Heath Pearce, Matteo Ferrari, Krzysztof Krol; M-Calum Mallace, Patrice Bernier, Andrés Romero (Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé 77’), Dilly Duka (Maxim Tissot 58’), Felipe (Issey Nakajima-Farran 12’); F-Jack McInerney
Subs not used: GK-Maxime Crépeau; D-Eric Miller, Futty Danso, Wandrille Lefèvre
NY – GK-Ryan Meara; D-Kosuke Kimura, Damien Perrinelle (Armando 64’), Matt Miazga, Chris Duvall; M-Connor Lade, Ian Christianson, Marius Obekop, Ruben Bover, Eric Stevenson; F-Saer Sene (Ambroise Oyongo 72’)
Subs not used: GK-Santiago Castano; D-Ibrahim Sekagya, Roy Miller, Richard Eckersley; M-Dax McCarty
Goals
MTL – McInerney (Romero) 71’
NY – Lade (Armando, Bover) 85’
Caution
MTL – Gagnon-Laparé 89’
