FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – A game such as Saturday’s between the Montreal Impact and New England Revolution typically needs just one special moment. And, despite losing 1-0 off a Lee Nguyen strike, the away side had their chances to provide just that.
Blerim Dzemaili’s free kick in the 32nd minute fizzed narrowly wide of Cody Cropper’s near post, Anthony Jackson-Hamel missed a golden chance off Chris Duvall’s cross in the 48th and Victor Cabrera headed just over the crossbar in the 83rd.
But the clinical finish was again lacking, and Montreal slid to its third straight loss, were shutout for the second time in as many weeks and suffered another major dent in their playoff hopes.
“We had a very good chance from Jackson-Hamel who should have scored – on any other day that’s going to be in the back of the net,” said Montreal coach Mauro Biello. “They were aggressive as soon as they lost possession, they would get back behind the ball. So we had to be quicker in our execution, quick in our counters, but in the end I felt we could’ve got more out of this game.”
When asked about his team’s struggling offense, goalkeeper Evan Bush had a more direct response. Opponents, he said, are keying in on Ignacio Piatti, creating a ripple effect of sorts.
And when their leading scorer (Piatti has 15 goals and four assists on the year) is curbed, Bush said others must fill the gaps.
“The last couple of games, it’s been pretty obvious that they try and neutralize Nacho,” Bush said. “We tried to free him up in a couple different ways this week, and because of that he got on the ball a couple times and there openings in certain areas, but if he’s not scoring goals we need other guys to. It doesn’t fall on one or two guys.”
As of late, Montreal has struggled to provide a secondary scoring option.
Matteo Mancosu, who powered them to the playoffs last year, has just four goals and two assists on the year. Meanwhile, Jackson-Hamel has seven goals but hasn’t scored since Aug. 19 against Real Salt Lake. And Dzemaili, with six strikes on the year, last scored on Aug. 12 against the Philadelphia Union.
Defender Shaun Francis said that the Impact’s state of affairs isn’t lost on the them especially as they try to rediscover their groove in the final third.
“I think the urgency is there and we know the situation that we’re in,” Francis said. “We know we need wins right now. I don’t think there’s any thought of us thinking we need a tie or if we drop points here we’re out of it. There’s enough games where we can get enough points to get in.”
Added Bush: “We’ve got nothing out of the last three games, so now we’re in a tough position for sure. But we’re not going to quit, and I can assure you of that.”
