COLUMBUS, Ohio – Without two of their best players, a draw on the road is just fine for the Montreal Impact.
The club were without Laurent Ciman (international duty) and Ignacio Piatti (hand injury) for their trip to Columbus against Crew SC Saturday night, and came away with a dull but effective 0-0 scoreline.
After the match, Head Coach Mauro Biello couldn’t complain too much about the point, in which his team had just 38 percent of possession and few quality chances.
“(Columbus) is not an easy place to get points,” he said. “Defensively, we wanted to do a better job than we’ve done lately. We’ve been giving up some goals in the past (few) games, and we want, really, to close up space and have a good shape. For the most part, we were able to do that.”
Montreal forced a few moments of last-ditch defending from Crew SC with their ever-potent counter attack.
In those moments, winger Dominic Oduro said they could have found the win.
“We just weren’t sharp enough,” he said. “When we had the ball and we tried to counter, we just weren’t precise. … That’s something we really have to fix.”
But Biello was encouraged.
His club produced a shutout on the road without Ciman after giving up multiple goals in five of their last seven matches.
And as his big names return the Montreal coach said his team will only improve.
“(Piatti and Ciman) are two important pieces that help the team, for sure,” he said. “We have some elements out of the lineup and we’ve had some injuries, but they’re coming back slowly. For us, it’s about getting through this and getting healthy bodies back, getting through this period and continuing to grow as a team.”
Ultimately, a pragmatic draw is an important result for teams striving for the top of their conference.
“A point on the road is better than getting nothing,” Oduro said.
