The Montreal Impact leave Stade Saputo with the 3 points, even if it was not their best performances. Not that Montreal performed badly but it had difficulties to dominate the play at home. Although it was facing one of the best teams in the league, Marco Schallibaum and co. would liked to have been more dominant.
Lineups
MTL - GK-Troy Perkins; D-Hassoun Camara, Matteo Ferrari, Alessandro Nesta, Jeb Brovsky; M-Justin Mapp, Davy Arnaud, Patrice Bernier, Felipe (Andrés Romero 66'), Sanna Nyassi (Blake Smith 80'); F-Marco Di Vaio (Andrew Wenger 89')
Subs not used: GK-Evan Bush; D-Dennis Iapichino; M-Collen Warner; F-Daniele Paponi
KC - GK-Jimmy Nielsen; D-Chance Myers, Ike Opara, Lawrence Olum, Seth Sinovic; M-Oriol Rosell, Peterson Joseph (Benny Feihaber 45'), Graham Zusi; F-Kei Kamara, Claudio Bieler (Dom Dwyer 80'), Sonny Saad (C.J. Sapong 89')
Subs not used: GK-Eric Kronberg; D-Mechack Jerome; F-Teal Bunbury,
Scoring Summary
MTL - Smith (Di Vaio, Camara) 90+'
Misconduct Summary
KC - Sinovic 1'
KC - Joseph 24'
KC - Bieler 70'
MTL - Bernier 71'
KC - Rosell 88'
Game Stats
| Montreal Impact | Sporting Kansas City | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Attempts on Goal | 14 |
| 4 | Shots on Target | 4 |
| 0 | Shots off Target | 7 |
| 3 | Blocked Shots | 3 |
| 4 | Corner Kicks | 5 |
| 17 | Fouls | 21 |
| 6 | Open Play Crosses | 14 |
| 1 | Offsides | 1 |
| 1 | First Yellow Cards | 4 |
| 0 | Second Yellow Cards | 0 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 56 | Duels Won | 58 |
| 49% | Duels Won % | 50% |
| 320 | Total Pass | 379 |
| 67% | Passing Accuracy % | 72% |
| 45.8% | Possession | 54.2% |
Montreal Impact vs Sporting Kansas City - Post Game Quotes
Montreal Impact head coach Marco Schallibaum
On the game...
We had another good game defensively today. They had very few scoring chances. We played right up until the very end and we never gave up tonight, even in stoppage time and for me as a coach, it was a happy ending when you make a change and bring a player [Blake Smith] who scores the winning goal for us. We deserve to win. It's important that we point out that we didn't steal this game in the final minutes. We earned it all game long.
On Blake Smith's performance...
Blake is someone who has learned a lot since I met him in his first few days with the team. He is someone who wants to learn and progress as a player. He always works hard and likes to move forward and help the attack.
On the team's lack of scoring...
Well, we played with two strikers versus Houston and we won 2-0. We have been a little tired and out of gas lately, but that's soccer. It's normal that players get fatigued at moments and it's a phase we were going through. But this team has that fighting spirit and we have seen that all season long. With a 1-0 win against a team like this and with a performance like we had, it's good. But it doesn't mean we won't go back to the 4-4-2 if we feel we need to.
Montreal Impact midfielder Patrice Bernier
On the victory...
It's a huge win and really good for the team's morale, especially after such a good effort to win the game in the end. We now move within one point of first with the three points from tonight and our smiles are little bigger now. We couldn't have asked for better.
On ending the winless streak...
What's more important is the three points. We have been playing well, but we needed to get this win to improve our confidence e, especially against a conference rival. We kept pushing all game long and we felt that they were slowing down in the second half. They have big defenders, so we tried to lay the counter attack, which served us well. Ironically, we scored on a nice build up, but we'll take it.
Montreal Impact midfielder Blake Smith
On his reaction after scoring the goal...
The win was huge for us today and that's all that really needs to be said. We fought hard and played the entire 90 plus minutes and we deserved the win. I want to come in and give the team a spark and help for one final push when I come in the game.
Describe the goal...
It came across from the right side, Patrice played a great dummy and Marco was able to play get one touch, lift his head and find me, playing me through the defence to finish. It's a great feeling. I wanted to make sure that I got a good clean shot and place it where I wanted.
Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the game...
I thought it was two teams who had a good battle for the majority of the game. We had a very good chance during the second half which Perkins had a great save on. Jimmy [Nielsen] had a great save in the first half so it was kind of even in this perspective. I don't have a great recollection of the goal just because I was managing something else on the sideline so I only saw the final piece. Other than that, I thought it was two good teams playing very .... Today the game was played more between the boxes than it was played in the boxes. So I thought both teams had good moments and were good. In the end, they come up with a goal.
How would you rate your central defence tonight?
I thought those guys did very well today. I have a lot of respect for Marco Di Vaio's game; he's a very good player. His movement off the ball is excellent. The guys did a very good job of not allowing him to be too dangerous which was great. So I thought they did very well.
Talking about Di Vaio... Was Olum specifically assigned to cover him?
We knew he likes to open up on the left channel a lot. So he was going to him a lot. I think he did a really good job against him. Both those guys played really, really well.
A few words about your midfield today...
What I would say about it is that we were solid. It was unfortunate that Joseph got the yellow card early like he did, especially in that part of the field because you're going to be much more on the players that on the sides so we had to make a tactical decision in taking him out at half time. He's also a quick guy so it can looks like he hit somebody but he had to be careful there. But, again, we did a good job of matching with their people and they did the same. It was a very even game, most of the game. There really wasn't anything like one team was really doing this, doing that. So from that point of view, it was good
Even if you had a lot of the ball possession most of the game, did you feel your team did enough in the last attack?
I think we deserved the point out of this game. I don't say we deserved the three but we deserve a point tonight. It's unfortunate when you spend that much time in the game, working so hard and then the last second you lose. This is the business we're in
Sporting KC midfielder Graham Zusi
Thoughts on the game...
Thought we did well for about 96 minutes. Didn't really give much away. It was a hard fought game. It hurts to give it away, that way.
Did you feel that you could have attacked more as a unit?
I thought we got some decent chances, away from home. We tried to create as much as we do at home but I thought we did well to create some good ones. Unfortunately, we couldn't put it away.
Even though you attack at midfield, how did you find the middle defense, with all the absentees, for this game?
I thought they did very well. They stepped up and really shut down their attack for the entire game. Those guys stepped up in the moment and really did well. Can't take anything away from them.
Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen
Thoughts on the game...
I think it was a very even game. Both teams created a few chances; it was a little battle in there. I think it was a good level of battling. Both teams came out with a winning attitude and wanted to get these three points so badly. Unfortunately for us, we didn't defend very well on this goal, as a team, and they did a good job at scoring. Last week we were extremely luck to score in seventh minute overtime and this time, a little unlucky; we conceded a goal in the 95th minute.
You seem to be performing well against the Impact, how did you feel with those key saves you made during the match?
When you come in this situation, there is question about staying big and lucky for me, I got the hand on it. When they scored in the 95th minute, he did the right thing: kicking it hard between the goalie's legs when he comes out, smart finish. All we can do right now is being disappointed with the result. The effort we put in today is acceptable.