MONTREAL – This one felt good.
Last Saturday, in a 3-0 defeat at Chicago, the Montreal Impact looked uninterested, unfocused. The scoreline flattered them. The performance did not bode well for Wednesday's game, against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
But the Impact were aware of all the negatives. After Wednesday’s game, defender Laurent Ciman told the media about a players' meeting where they told it like it is to each other. And against the Whitecaps, Montreal looked interested, focused. They got a 2-1 win at Stade Saputo out of it.
“There were things to say. They were said,” Ciman told reporters postgame. “I’ve got a big mouth, and when I’ve got things to say, I say them to your face. I think everyone took their responsibilities.”
Montreal had to rebound, and rebound they did. They took the lead 14 minutes in through Jack McInerney, and even after conceding a 79th-minute penalty kick goal courtesy of Pedro Morales, they didn’t stop pushing.
Andres Romero had committed the foul in the box. He found his redemption just minutes later by assisting Ignacio Piatti on the winner.
“I thought of it that way, yeah,” Romero said. “I don’t think it was a penalty. But we can’t do anything about it. We got a bit of luck, creating that play, and Nacho scored a great goal and we won a good game.”
Added head coach Frank Klopas: “A tie wasn‘t good enough. It would have felt like a loss. We needed to get the win. It was huge.”
Klopas had challenged his players to bounce back from the Chicago loss. Montreal played a fine first half, but Klopas was more pleased with the second, despite conceding. His players’ capacity to win duels, he said, changed the momentum after the last five minutes of the first half, where the Whitecaps were unlucky not to score.
For team captain Patrice Bernier, more of that second half energy could be a solution to the Impact’s ongoing road woes, which they will want to end this Saturday in Columbus (7:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
“[We need to play] like in the second half,” Bernier said. “It’s not always easy. We don’t always have the ball, but we’re alert, focused, smart. We didn't give many chances to the other team, and we take advantage of our opportunities. There weren't many chances in the second half, but we came back and scored.
"On the road, it’s never the same. We have to be smarter, more focused and more alert to make sure that it’s up to the other team to make mistakes and pounce.”
