Montreal Impact fall to 4th in the East after 1-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo

Deep in the heart of Texas were the Montreal Impact players and Les Bleus are not able to get all 3 points from BBVA Compass Stadium. The Impact could not muster one point out of the Orange Crush but chances were there to get the tying goal, especially in the second half.

The game could not start under worst circumstances when Patrice Bernier was declared unfit for the game. Out with a hip injury, Marco Schallibaum started the game as follows

XI #IMFC vs @HoustonDynamo | Perkins; Brovsky; Lefèvre, Ferrari, Camara; Arnaud (C); Warner; Romero, Felipe, Mapp; Di Vaio #IMFClive

— Impact de Montréal (@impactmontreal) October 4, 2013

Playing without Alessandro Nesta is already hard but with Wandrille Lefevre playing a decent game against the Chicago Fire, the Impact could have survived. But losing Bernier right out of the game must have been hard to swallow for the team. Even if he was doubtful before hand, it still a big blow to lose one of the best midfielders in MLS.

Houston scored first and early when Ricardo Clark stuns the Impact defence and Troy Perkins, in the 6th minute. Barnes uses his chest to direct the ball to Clark, who from just outside the box, curls in powerful shot past Perkins. Montreal had a reaction via Felipe Martins, who felt inspired after a run through the middle of the pitch.The Brazilian shoots from long range but Tally Hall punches it out with ease.

Both goalkeepers were busy in their own way, throughout the game. As Perkins kept his team in the game, Hall kept the Dynamo going and take maximum points at BBVA Compass Stadium. As the first half was winding down, Montreal was much more dangerous with a few crosses from Justin Mapp.

The second half started as bad as the first half when Marco Di Vaio left the game injured, at the 62nd minute. Andrew Wenger took over and jump started Les Bleus for the rest of the game. He had an instant impact when he found himself alone against Hall, after beating Bobby Boswell in a foot race for the ball. Wenger squeezes in a weak but dangerous shot but it is deflected for a corner kick by Hall.

Wenger was also involved on another dangerous chance when he feeds the ball to Davy Arnaud from the right side. The captain is unmarked and fires the ball towards the net but is blocked by Boswell with his elbow: no penalty kick called for Montreal.

The rest of the game was a mix of frustration and half chances as Montreal had good intentions but we're too hasty and naive to get that famous tying goal. With this loss, Montreal falls to 4th in the a Eastern Conference with 4 games left in the MLS schedule.