Impact lose 4-1 to the Colorado Rapids

A horrendous penalty call, suspect refereeing and lack of speed was too much to handle for the Montreal Impact. Within four minutes in the second half, the Impact went from having the upper-hand with good ball possession to lose the game 4-1 against the Colorado Rapids.

Dick's Sporting Goods Park is still a haunted house for the bleu-blanc-noir with zero points taken in Colorado since joining the MLS in 2012.

At the 5th minute, Sanna Nyassi is deemed to have committed a foul in the box. Dillon Powers converts the penalty. On a positive note, the Impact did not roll over after a difficult call so early in the game and took over the game during the second half.

But it was the Rapids that had the most dangerous scoring chances, getting counter-attacks opportunities with a young and speedy team.

Justin Mapp had a good chance to tie the game but saw his shot hit the post. He also setup Issey Nakajima-Farran for a tap in but the ex-Toronto FC winger was called for an offside...but he was not offside.

Early in the second half, two quality goals from Kamani Hill ans Shane O'Neill was more than enough to finish off the visitors. Powers scores a brace in the 84th minute and continues to improve since being named the 2013 MLS Rookie Of The Year

A consolation goal came via Andres Romero who scored a left-footed curler after dribbling through the Rapids' defense.

Scoring Summary:

COL - Powers (PK) 5'

COL - Hill (Buddle) 54'

COL - O'Neill 58'

COL - Powers (Hairston) 84'

MTL - Romero (Perkins) 88'

Misconduct Summary:

MTL - Lefèvre 40'

COL - Moor 72'

COL - O'Neill 92'

Lineups:

MTL - GK-Troy Perkins; D-Jeb Brovsky, Heath Pearce, Wandrille Lefèvre, Hassoun Camara; M-Patrice Bernier, Hernan Bernardello, Sanna Nyassi (Issey Nakajima-Farran 24'), Felipe (Marco Di Vaio 56'), Justin Mapp (Andrés Romero 71'); F-Jack McInerney

Unused sub: GK-Evan Bush; D-Karl W. Ouimette; M-Calum Mallace; F-Santiago Gonzalez

COL - GK-Clint Irwin; D-Drew Moor, Chris Klute, Marvell Wynne, Shane O'Neill; M-Dillon Serna (Marlon Hairston 73'), José Mari, Kamani Hill, Dillon Powers; F-Edson Buddle (Danny Mwanga 86'), Deshorn Brown (Nick Labrocca 75')

Unused subs: GK- John Berner; D-Thomas Piermayr, M-Jared Watts; F-Charles Eloundou

Quotes

Frank Klopas, Montreal Impact head coach

Other than the penalty, I felt we started well. We possessed the ball and came out strong. But when the referee is a protagonist in the game, it's never good. My players gave everything tonight, despite the score and now we have to regroup for the Canadian Championship and try to win a cup.

Patrice Bernier,

Unfortunately we can't seem to catch a break. Over the last two weeks, we've played better than we have in a while and we have shown more solidarity. The score today doesn't reflect the game. They scored on their chances, two from great shots outside the box and we didn't make the right plays at certain moments to keep us in the game.

Justin Mapp

We're disappointed with the result. A few lapses defensively in the second half on our end and the score is 4-1. It was kind of a strange game.

Pablo Mastroeni, Colorado Rapids head coach

On his halftime speech:

It just wasn't good enough in the first half. It's a process. You have to keep hitting the points that you want to hit, but the most important thing for me today was the response. These guys took it upon themselves to come out sharp in the second half, and did really well with the chances they created. I couldn't be happier with the way they stuck together and found a way to open up the game.

On his messages in training finally being heard:

We're all in this together. We're all trying to figure this out. We're all trying to get this team hitting on all cylinders starting now, preferably. The football that we played in the second half and the ability to create chances and really get after them I think is really optimistic for us looking forward. Now shoring up the defense and making that a little tighter with that late goal. You want everything to be perfect and it's never going to be perfect. So you take what you can from the games and you improve on those aspects that didn't go well. I think today is about the response, and that is all those guys in the locker room. I had nothing to do with that. Those guys want to win more than I do, and I think tonight they showed that.

On making the most of goal-scoring chances:

I think today we did really well for chances. We had a few more in the first half we could have put away. The game is fickle. It doesn't owe anyone anything. You have to go out and get it.

On why his halftime speech was so spirited:

I was upset that we were sitting back in the first half after we got the goal. That's not what we want to do. Although a couple of great counter attacks came from sitting back and breaking, so that just goes to show you that things don't always go as planned, and can sometimes benefit you.

Kamani Hill, Colorado Rapids midfielder

On the victory:

I'm elated for the entire team. We really had to battle back in the second half after taking a lot of pressure in the first half. I thought it showed a tremendous amount of character from everybody. We're totally happy from top to bottom. We really got it sorted out at halftime. There were a couple of things that we had to figure out because they were overloading the side, but we did that.

On Pablo laying into the team at halftime:

Yeah, there was just a little bit of some tactical adjustments that we had to make because of the way they were coming at us with their outside backs. We were dropping too much and giving them too much space in the field. In the second half we had to adjust, making sure we were pressuring higher up the field and I think it paid off for us.

On whether something just clicked today for his goal:

That's football. You've got to keep shooting to score. You hit it ten times and you get two or three. Just happy to be on the field and get the opportunity to take those shots. Hopefully, I'll just keep doing it, and hopefully get some more goals.

On playing with an extra chip on his shoulder this season:

Yeah, definitely. Last year was difficult for me. I didn't see the field that much, but this year I think there's a really strong spirit within the group. I think that's bringing everybody up. Everybody is included in the team and everybody is working hard for each other. That's the best part about it because you're not so worried about playing or not playing. You're more worried about the group as a whole.

Deshorn Brown, Colorado Rapids forward

On when shots get so close, but just don't go in:

I don't know what's going on. I've been hitting the posts since the year started. Goal tenders have been doing a great job. Defenders, the same thing. I've just got to try and focus and not worry about it. When the time comes, I'll get some goals. I'm just trying not to get frustrated. I'm just trying to do the best I can.

On using his speed on the breakaways:

I think that's a part of the game, just to try and get the defenders one-on-one. I think it worked in this game because we've been working on it in training.

On what Pablo said at halftime:

Coming in a yelling at players to lift their head up, and start doing the job they're supposed to do. He finally woke the guys up and they started to play the game the way it should be played.

Shane O'Neill, Colorado Rapids defender

On his goal:

It felt good. It's been a long time coming for me. It felt really good once the ball popped out. I think I had a couple for chances like that last year. I got a good touch on it. Once it left my foot, I kind of had a feeling it was going in. It was great, but more importantly, we got the three points tonight.

On celebrating his goal with Marlon Hairston:

We've been going back and forth on who would score first. I just saw him out of the corner of my eye so I had to run over to him. Me and Chris [Klute] had an agreement that whoever scores first had to by the other one a video game.

On the message at halftime:

At halftime, Pablo got into us a little bit. He wasn't happy with the way we performed in the first half, which is understandable. We were at home, I think we had the numbers up, and that's when the success started happening for us. It was huge for us to get all the pressure up the field and get the goals.