Wednesday night was probably the happiest Mike Petke will ever be after a loss.
No, he did not win the lottery and no, he did not find himself in one of those rare situations where his team advanced despite tasting defeat. What Petke did experience, however, was a 1-0 loss to the Montreal Impact in CONCACAF Champions League action –a result that simultaneously kept the New York Red Bulls alive in the tournament while making the coach proud of the young team of reserves that gave nearly as good as they got for the full 90 minutes.
“I’m extremely, extremely proud of my team tonight,” said Petke. “We came up here and made a decision – knowing full well [that for] Montreal this is their No. 1 priority, Champions League – based on the number of games we’ve had recently. A lot of starters being heavy and hurting, having some injuries, and we had faith in our guys, and when I look at the stats from tonight’s game and our goalie had zero saves and their goalie had three, my hat is off to my team.
“I told them it feels like a loss because it is, we lost 1-0. But if they didn’t show the character they did, they didn’t put the fight in that they did it could have been a lot worse. … I’m proud of my team.”
The Red Bulls looked to be in for a long night almost from the get-go, as Ignacio Piatti smacked the post with a shot in the third minute before setting up Marco Di Vaio’s opener with a sublime ball over the top in the 13th minute.
But the Red Bulls reserves dug deep and responded to the adversity. They began stringing some passes together, showed a willingness to test the Impact defenders, and came close to pulling level on a couple of shots in the first half that Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush did well to keep out.
It was more of the same in the second stanza until Connor Lade – playing as a central midfielder – was sent off with a second yellow card in the 76th minute.
Rather than crumble, New York’s back-ups scrapped to keep the game at 1-0. They were a bit lucky not to concede late on two golden chances that the Impact surely wish they could have back, but still showed the type of work ethic and fight that has been admittedly lacking from the starting unit at times this season.
“This performance tonight makes me feel that the next few Champions League games, these guys have earned the right to play,” said Petke of his reserves.
The defeat gives group-leaders Montreal nine points from their first three matches, but New York have a game in hand and are equally in control of their own destiny. The Red Bulls can move to six points if they defeat Group 3 piñata CD FAS in El Salvador next Wednesday, then can finish in atop the group with a victory against the Impact at Red Bull Arena on Oct. 22.
Or it could come down to tiebreakers – which is why taking just a 1-0 loss was so important. And it’s something for Petke to smile about.
“I feel like we’re in the driver’s seat,” said Petke,”and now we have to take care of it the next two games.”
