MONTREAL – It wasn't completely worth the wait, it turns out, for the Montreal Impact.
After a game that was rescheduled on short notice, the Columbus Crew will be happy with a road point – and Dominic Oduro with his extraordinary goal. The Impact, for their part, expressed regrets after the 1-1 draw at Stade Saputo.
“I think we did enough to win this game,” assistant coach Mauro Biello, standing in for the suspended Marco Schällibaum, told the media after a game in which Designated Player Marco Di Vaio gave the Impact a short-lived lead.
Biello went on to point out the few chances Columbus had in a second half during which his team looked altogether different than in the first. Full of intent in the second 45 minutes, Montreal looked flat in the attacking third in the opening 45 minutes.
“In the first half, we got into some decent spots, but we didn’t do well in the most dangerous parts,” team captain Davy Arnaud told reporters. “But in the second half, we kept pressing. I thought we were better when we got into some good spots. Marco scored a very good goal for us.”
A very good goal indeed, one celebrated by the Montreal fans as if there was no looking back. The Impact had been expecting a battle on a field still feeling the effects of an interminable winter, and they got it. Yet drawing first blood wasn’t enough. Oduro was having none of that.
“It was one of those games where you felt like the team that got the first goal was going to win the game, and we scored,” Arnaud said. “It felt like we were going to get all three points. Unfortunately, we didn’t. Maybe we deserved a little more, but that’s the game sometimes.”
OPTA Chalkboard: Montreal dominate possession but Columbus match chance creation
And as Biello mentioned in his postgame press conference, Montreal can draw positives from the stalemate.
Having struggled to make plays through the middle of the field similarly to two weeks ago in Kansas City, the Impact varied their approach, moving the ball to the flanks and stretching the Columbus defense.
But sometimes, effort just doesn’t translate into results.
“I thought we probably deserved a little more,” Justin Mapp said. “That’s how it goes sometimes. There’s no reason to hang our heads.”
