Aug 03 USL - Impact give up 2 Points in 1-1 Draw Vs Miami FC

Just a few more seconds. That's all it would have taken and the Montreal Impact would have been in a playoff spot in the USL division 1 standings as we speak.

Montreal headed into Miami with just 2 points separating the two teams and Montreal, with a win, would have leapfrogged over the Blues and until the dying seconds of extra time it looked like this was going to be the case. But it was not to be.

Mauro Biello got his team off to the desired start by scoring first at the 41st minute on a header that was crossed Ciaran O’Brien, beating goalkeeper Pat Hannigan despite his diving effort. The impressive, upstart O'brien has now recorded 4 points, including a goal in his first 5 games with the Impact.

Despite having very few chances to score, Miami, who looked poised to surrender 6th place to the Impact, did manage one last drive in extra time that saw a deep pass from the left side catch Alen Marcina, who fired a point blank shot that 'keeper Srdjan Djekanovic had no chance on. End result, a 1-1 draw that puts the Impact in 8th place, still 2 points behind 7th place Miami.

Coach Dos Santos was not very pleased with the way this game ended. "It’s unfortunate to give away two points that way. It’s a tie that is hard to swallow. It’s difficult to accept because this is the match that we had to play on the road. We defended ourselves well and we did well on counterattack, but we were unable to score the second goal, despite a minimum of three scoring chances.”

Still 11 games to go in the USL season and anything can happen but one would think the Impact would absolutely have to start stringing some consecutive wins along the way. Their present streak, while not necessarily stellar, has them at a 3 game unbeaten streak with one win and 2 ties. Had they won those two games they tied, the Impact would presently be in sole possession of 6th place instead of being on the outside looking in at 8th.

The Impact play their final international friendly Tuesday night at Saputo Stadium where they will host Argentina's River Plate. The rest of their games are all USL related and as mentioned before, they will have 11 games to make up for lost ground.

pic by photos pépé

Tags: Marc dos santos \ Mauro Biello \ miami FC \ River Plate \ soccer \ USL