Montreal Impact Continue Roll into Playoffs with 2-0 Win Over Austin Aztex
Not even heavy rain could dampen the spirit and the drive of both the 7962 fans and the Montreal Impact who drew from the support last night as Montreal began the successful defense of their championship title.
The Impact, with a 2-0 victory over the Austin Aztex in game one of the home and away quarterfinal series of the USSF Second division playoffs, now head to Austin where game 2 will be played on Saturday at 8:30 pm
Ali “Baba” Gerba was the lone goal scorer in the game. As has been the norm, if Baba scores one, he is bound to score a second. His first came in the 39th minute of play. Posted just inside the six-yard box, Gerba took a leaping dive and headed a Philippe Billy cross into the back of the net. Gerba then got the insurance goal in the 76th minute. Rocco Placentino, who had just subbed in for Antonio Ribeiro, pelted the ball from midfield to Gerba on the run, beating the Aztex defender and then put it past Aztex ‘keeper Miguel Gallardo.
"This result is very positive for the team's confidence," said Gerba. "The chemistry is excellent with this group, we work hard in training and on the field and we are earning results that we deserve. Now, we have to go to Austin to finish what we started tonight."
Coach Marc Dos Santos was quick however, to keep this about the team. When asked about Gerba’s play he responded “I don’t know about you, but I saw a lot of players out there that were better than Gerba” He later went on to compliment the defensive third commenting that “while goals are great, our team only let in 3 goals in the last 8 games and that should be looked at as well”
Impact ‘keeper Matt Jordan was not as busy as his counterpart as the Impact dominated with a 14-6 shot advantage and this despite fielding their three regular forwards (Maxell Griffin, Edward Johnson and Jamie Watson). The trio had a combined 31 goals going into last night’s heat. Griffin, who sat out Sunday’s game due to concussion symptoms, also had to be looked at in the first few minutes of the game as an old head wound opened up and did not look as dominating as in the regular season. Jordan earned his 10th victory and his third shutout in career playoff games.
On the injury front, David Testo left the game in the 25th minute with a calf injury and was replaced by Anthony Le Gall. Defender Wesley Charles who suffered a kick to the face in Sunday’s contest was not dressed and it will be interesting to see if he makes the trip to Austin..
The winner of the quarter-finals between the Impact and the Aztex will play against the winner of the Carolina RailHawks (2nd) and the Minnesota Stars (7th), who played to a 0-0 tie on Wednesday night.
click here for all the game stats.
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