Then Montreal Impact and the Philadelphia Union draw at 2-2

The Montréal Impact were held to a draw Wednesday night, as they continue to prepare for the 2017 MLS campaign.

About an hour before kickoff in Clearwater, Florida; the Impact confirmed the loan signing of Argentine center midfielder Adrián Arregui. Who has been brought into Le bleu-Blanc-Noir in hopes of bringing more competitiveness to an aging midfield.

Both sides started out with strong lineups in this one. Montréal had 3 golden opportunities inside the first 15 minutes of play, but reigning MLS goalkeeper of the year Andre Blake kept the two sides level thanks to some world class saves.

The first goal of the game came in the 34th minute when the Union’s best skilled Ilsinho put the moves on Bernier from 25 yards out to then beat Crepeau to his near post with a heavy, decently low shot. Union fans will be hoping for more of that magic during the season itself.

The Impact leveled the score up at 1 a piece in the 68th minute when Chris Duvall turned it up a gear to bolt by the Union defense in a flash down the right-hand side, he then drove it across the 6 yard box for Nick Depuy to put home an easy tap-in and his first goal as a Montréal Impact player.

In the 82nd minute, we saw yet another goal off a corner kick conceded by the Impact. This time it was on the second ball played in by Ken Tribbett that found C.J. Sapong wide open on the back post, who headed it home past a stranded Crepeau.

In the 90th minute Philadelphia’s right back Raymond Gaddis stumbled upon the ball deep in his own half, leaving Wallace with tons of space in front of him, he then played it into Anthony Jackson-Hamel who scored his second goal in as many games. Both of his goals coming in the 90th minute!

Scoring Summary

PHI-34’Ilsinho, MTL-68’Depuy, PHI-82’C.J. Sapong, MTL-90’Anthony Jackson-Hamel.

Players that played:

First half:

Crépeau; Lovitz, Cabrera, Ciman, Camara; Bernier, Donadel, Bernardello; Piatti, DePuy, Tabla.

Blake; Rosenberry, Onyewu, Marquez, Fabinho; Medunjanin, D. Jones; Ilsinho, Bedoya, Herbers; Simpson

Second half:

Crépeau; Wallace, Lefèvre, Fisher, Duvall; Lovitz, Mallace, Béland-Goyette, Salazar; Jackson-Hamel, DePuy.

Carroll, Elliott, Epps, Tribbett, Sapong, Wijnaldum, Gaddis, Najem all got subbed in the 63rd minute, while 17-year-old Fontana came in the 77th minute.

Takeaways from the game

Nick Depuy showed that he’s more than strong enough to compete physically in MLS.

Bernier is the most likely of the 3 midfielders to be benched if Arregui were to be in the starting XI. (Bernier looked tired and committed a few sloppy turnovers.)

Based on gameplay in preseason so far, Duvall looks as though he will leapfrog Camara for that starting RB position. Camara had a few reckless moments today while Duvall put Philly on their heels all evening.

Daniel Lovitz will be offered a contract for the 2017 season. We’ve only seen him appear twice so far for the Impact. But you can tell Biello is watching him closely. He’s had more game time in this tournament than most of his teammates, and he’s played with confidence as well as quality. He would be a good backup for African champion Ambroise Oyongo.