MONTREAL – It’s fair to say that Jack McInerney’s goal in the Montreal Impact’s win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night wasn’t the prettiest of his career. And though he threw his hands up after scoring as if to apologize for the bundled nature of the goal, don’t expect McInerney to say sorry for putting the Impact out front.
“I wouldn’t say I was sorry,” McInerney said after the match. “I scored a lot of goals like that throughout my career, so I’ll take them,” McInerney told reporters postgame. “No one remembers how it goes in eventually.”
For the record, Marco Di Vaio curled one in from the left. San Jose ‘keeper Jon Busch got a hand to it. The rebound fell for McInerney, who bundled it in off his knee. Dilly Duka later added a second for a 2-0 Impact win against the Earthquakes at Stade Saputo.
There was a bit of awkwardness to McInerney’s goal, but it’ll still leave him much more at ease. McInerney hadn’t scored since June 29, when he netted a brace at home against the Houston Dynamo.
“It’s definitely been a while since I scored,” McInerney said. “As games go by and I don’t score, it’s frustrating, so it’s definitely a relief for myself and for the team, to play so well today.”
Montreal’s first half, in particular, was encouraging – despite their elimination from contention for the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs come the game’s end. Led by McInerney and Ignacio Piatti – who exited the game in the 57th minute with knee tendonitis –, the front six put together some fine attacking moves but failed to place several of their 11 shots, many from long range, onto Busch’s net. McInerney only found his game winner in the 81st minute.
But with one crucial game left this season – the October 22 CONCACAF Champions League game at New York Red Bulls –, the result mattered less than the process.
“Guys are still fighting for jobs,” McInerney said. “And we can still play spoilers, even if San Jose isn’t really there either. We still want to put good performances in for the fans and ourselves, going forward into next season. It’s important to end on a good note.”
And if Montreal are to finish strongly in CCL, they’ll need McInerney to build on his return to the score sheet and find chemistry with new star Piatti – Di Vaio will be suspended in New York due to yellow card accumulation
“I’m happy for him,” Di Vaio said. “I know how it is, as a striker. Not scoring for a while isn’t easy. I’m happy for him, for the future, for the Champions League game. It’ll give him much confidence.”
