HARRISON, N.J. – A bittersweet feeling.
Already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, the Montreal Impact wanted to clinch a top four seed by winning at Red Bull Arena this Wednesday. An experienced Impact team faced a young Red Bulls XI. Top four was in the Impact’s hands.
Despite some glitches, especially in the first half, Montreal flirted with a top seed when Jack McInerney scored in the 71st minute. But a late Connor Lade set piece goal cancelled it out for the 1-1 draw, leaving Montreal with 10 points in this CCL group stage.
While there is a real sense among the squad that they have done their duty overall, the circumstances of this night could have been better.
“There were some guys that we didn’t want to really risk,” head coach Frank Klopas said in his postgame press conference. “They looked a little bit fatigued. I think they gave everything they had. … But I think we had some good opportunities, late in the game, to score the second one, and it’s just unfortunate that we give up the tying goal there.”
Montreal actually thought they got the second in the 75th minute, when Issey Nakajima-Farran finished from close range on Ryan Meara’s left. But the goal was called back for an apparent handball.
“I think I scored,” Nakajima-Farran told reporters postgame. “I don’t know what the call was about. I don’t think I was offside. But there’s my luck.”
This gave New York a chance to get back in it. They’d wasted a couple of chances in the first half, wreaking havoc in a confused Montreal defense. Klopas commented that the Red Bulls got “opportunities out of our mistakes.”
“I think, a couple of times, there were miscommunications,” midfielder Calum Mallace added. “With the conditions today, it was tough. The ball was playing really fast. We had a couple of hiccups, but Evan [Bush] was there to bail us out and in the end we ended up keeping it together.”
Until the very end, that is. But then again, the conclusion to this story could spring a surprise. Somehow, top four is still doable – if Pachuca lose on Wednesday and Sporting KC don’t win on Thursday.
In any case, Montreal will take what comes.
“You never know,” team captain Patrice Bernier said. “You can’t know what’s going to happen in the next few hours. We could have finished second and faced a very good team that finishes sixth.”
