Impact should stay the course against the Crew if they want to advance

The Montreal Impact play the second leg of their eastern conference final at Columbus tonight. They advance with a win or a tie, can be eliminated if they lose 1-0 or other score by more than 2 goals.

Having won the first leg at home last Sunday, conventional wisdom would say the Impact should play a smart, defensive road game seeing as a tie would suffice to advance to the next round.

However what we've seen thus far with the Impact this season is ‎playing it safe is not one of their strong points. The Impact have been at their best when they use their speed and dictate the pace of the game. Given the Impact's poor record on the road, they should continue playing the way they do when they're at home in front of their fans at Stade Saputo.

Columbus scored a vital road goal last week and they go through if they win 1-0. If I were Mauro Biello, I would tell the boys to attack and go for the jugular. The Impact have to feel the urgency to score a goal, rather than just defend to not concede one.

If they are successful and score first, Columbus will have to open it up as they will need a minimum of two goals to stay alive. This will give the Impact an opportunity to counter attack with speed, one of their strengths.

They got this far with Biello by not tinkering with a winning formula. Now is not the time to change the game plan. Biello needs to stay the course. I am confident the Impact will go through, but if they don't, I would rather it be because they went down swinging rather than playing it safe.