Recap: #MNUFC vs #IMFC

The Impact went to Minnesota for the first time having been shutout for three games in a row. Minnesota sit in the middle of the pack and managing well even without key players Finlay and Molino.

The first half was surprisingly dominated by the Impact who managed to get close to the net but everyone seemed afraid to take the shot. The best scoring opportunity for the Impact came in the 28th minute when Piatti chipped the ball towards the far post but the ball hit the crossbar.

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On the other end, Minnesota did not get many chances but every single one came close. An important interception by Raitala came in the 34th minute when he stretched out to intercept a pass coming into the box that would have left a shooter alone in front of the net. Seven minutes later Minnesota exchange the crossbar challenge with the Impact. Quintero beat Raitala to get a chance on net that was saved by Bush and the rebound was distributed to Gomez but his attempt rang off the crossbar.

Going into half time the Impact along with the fans probably felt optimistic about the possible outcome but the burden of still not having scored seem to have been weighing more and more on the players.

In the 52nd minute, Silva gave the ball away poorly in the Impact’s defensive end leaving a golden opportunity for Minnesota. Ramirez got the pass and made no mistake by ending the chance in the back of the net.

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Only six minutes later Minnesota doubled their lead after some defensive passiveness led to Minnesota getting into the zone too easily. Fanni seemed to want to try and spark something in the 65th minute when he ran up a good part of the pitch and distributed the pass to Edwards who manage to get a powerful strike but the keeper dealt with it quite easily.

Another one in the books, another shutout leaving the Impact close to 400 minutes with no goals. The Impact face Houston next week, a team who is doing well in the west and winning their last two. Houston does have a midweek game hopefully the Montrealers can expose the fatigue of their opponents on Saturday.

3 Observations

• Stop playing hot potato and shoooooot!: I have never seen a team make so many passes in the box without taking a shot. On numerous occasions yesterday the best positioned player for the shot opted for a pass which ended in the chance being nullified by the opponent or even worse by lack of ability. Examples of this, early on Silva got a golden rebound but his slow reaction time caused by trying to control the ball to place it perfectly instead of taking a shot on net with an out of positioned keeper resulted in a blocked shot by a defender who got the time to get back in front of Silva. Then again Duvall who got a lucky bound and found himself with a lot of space coming into the box chose to pass to Piatti instead of shooting. Piatti was unable to get the ball under control resulted in a lost opportunity. It seems that no one wants to take the chance because they are scared to mess it up. Yes it’s been a long time they haven’t scored but as Gretzky said you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

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• Silly Silva: Silva has not been the issue every game but last night he really did not have a good game. Blame it on the fact that he was playing out of position if you want but at the end of the day the biggest error he committed leading to the first goal is an error you learn not to make when you’re eight years old. The major issue in his play is his giveaways (as we saw) and it is one he is able to correct because it is not a lack of skill but rather a lack of confidence or attention to his surroundings
• Fanatic of Fanni: Everything one could want out of a temporary signing. Fanni is really strong defensively and everyone is aware of the stability he does add, yes it could have been worse. The important aspect that he brought to the game on Saturday was his leadership. After the second goal Fanni attempted to take thing into his own hands and tried to spark the offence. It was enjoyable to see this because there seems to be that exact person missing in the lineup that guy that will say let’s roll up our sleeves and make something happen.

Lineups

MTL – G-Evan Bush; D-Chris Duvall, Rod Fanni, Jukka Raitala, Daniel Lovitz; M-Samuel Piette, Alejandro Silva (Ken Krolicki 57’), Saphir Taider; A-Ignacio Piatti, Matteo Mancosu (Anthony Jackson-Hamel 71’), Raheem Edwards

Unused substitutes – Clément Diop, Rudy Camacho, Michael Petrasso, Marco Donadel, Jeisson Vargas

MIN – G-Bobby Shuttleworth; D-Eric Miller, Michael Boxall, Francisco Calvo, Tyrone Mears; M-Rasmus Schüller, Ibson (Frantz Pangop 90’), Miguel Ibarra, Darwin Quintero (Abu Danladi 81’), Alexi Gómez; A-Christian Ramirez (Collin Martin 76’)

Unused substitutes – Alex Kapp, Brent Kallman, Carter Manley, Frantz Pangop, Mason Toye

GOALS

MIN – Ramirez (Ibson) 52’

MIN – Ibarra 58’

CAUTIONS

MTL – Edwards 20’

MIN – Gómez 20’

MTL – Calvo 44