Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Montreal Impact outplayed by New England Revolution

The going has not been very smooth of late for our beloved Montreal Impact. They have suffered a series of embarrassing home results and lack luster road performances. The Impact were confident they could reverse that trend on Saturday when they faced off versus the New England Revolution at home.

That confidence lasted for all of 24 SECONDS before a certain Kei Kamara flicked the ball past Evan Bush. The Revs would not look back on their way to a dominant 3-1 win over our Montreal Impact. Here are my thumbs up and thumbs down for the Impact's match versus New England.

Thumbs Up:

Food: At least the concession stands at Stade Saputo were on their game. They served impressive pulled pork sandwiches to thousands of bored and depressed fans with nothing better to do. Sandwich Rating: 7.5/10 (slightly soggy bun)

Thumbs Down:

Defensive mistakes: Once again, the Impact's defense struggled under pressure and made quite a few mistakes that cost the team dearly. The first of these mistakes came in the opening seconds of the match. The 5'7" Donny Toia was covering aerial menace Kei Kamara who measures in at 6'3". Kamara already had the height advantage and he also created separation with Toia before converting to give New England the early lead.

The Impact continued to leave players unmarked at the top of the 18 yard box. In the 18^th minute, the creative Lee Nguyen fired from long distance and the rebound was picked up by the Revolution and fired towards the net. Luckily, that shot rattled off the post.

In the 27^th minute, the Impact did not get so lucky. The ball was played back towards the edge of the area where Kelyn Rowe was waiting. The Impact had too many bodies inside their own box so Rowe had all the time he needed to fire the shot off the post and into the back of Bush's net.

The Impact continued to leave players unmarked in their own box and played desperate defense all night. Thanks to a mixture of luck as well as goal line clearances the Impact managed to hold off New England until the 59^th minute when it was once again Rowe that beat Evan Bush. Performance Ratings:

Ambroise Oyongo: 6.5/10

Laurent Ciman: 6.5/10

Hassoun Camara: 6/10

Donny Toia: 5/10

Missed opportunities: I know this is starting to sound repetitive but the Impact were once again poor defensively and did not capitalize on their rare offensive opportunities. The Impact's only goal of the game was a penalty and furthermore, the call that led to that penalty was weak to say the least. If a call like that was awarded to the other team, I would be furious.

Most of the Impact's opportunities fell to Ignacio Piatti. Our star Argentinian found himself alone in front of the Revolution's net twice but was unable to find a way past New England keeper Brad Knighton.

On the 1^st of those two opportunities, Piatti was played through by Drogba and all Nacho had to do was slot the ball past the keeper like we have seen him do countless times before. However on this occasion, Piatti blasted the ball over the crossbar and out for a goal kick. Had Piatti converted on this beautiful occasion, the Impact would have equalized the score at 2. Instead, he missed and the Revolution scored a few minutes later.

In the 80^th minute, it was one again Drogba who floated in the cross towards Piatti. Piatti controlled the ball perfectly pivoted and ... missed wide to the left of the Revolution's net. Piatti got himself into some great positions but was unable to capitalize.

The offense was not spectacular. Often we had the ball wide but no options in the box or a man on the ball with no options up field. The Impact will need to improve offensively if they want to make the playoffs. Performance Rating: Offence 5.5/10

Well, that was another disappointing and humiliating performance by the Impact. If they do not snap out of these dismal performances soon, they will not be assured of making the playoffs. Our next chance to get back to our winning ways will come on Saturday when the Impact head over to New York to face off versus a very good New York Red Bulls squad. A win over New York would help both our confidence and our placement in the standings. Let's see if we will once again be left ruing missed opportunities and defensive mistakes or if we will be celebrating a momentous win.