MONTREAL—There were no late heroics this time around. Instead, the Montreal Impact took care of business early on and never looked back, and now they’re 90 minutes away from making history.
A pair of goals in the opening stages of the first half was enough for the Impact to defeat Costa Rican club Alajuelense 2-0 on Wednesday night in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinal before 33,675 fans at Olympic Stadium.
Igancio Piatti and Victor Cabrera scored five minutes apart to give a huge advantage to Montreal, who only needs a draw in the second leg of this home-and-home playoff series to advance to the final. Even a one-goal loss in the return match on April 7 in Costa Rica would be enough to see the Impact move on.
One can’t overstate the significance of what the Impact are on the verge of achieving. A positive result in three weeks in Costa Rica would see Montreal reach the final of the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time in club history — they made it to the quarterfinals in the inaugural tournament in 2008-09.
The Impact can also become only the second Major League Soccer team to play in the final–Real Salt Lake (in 2011) was the other. Six of the seven Champions League finals have been all-Mexican affairs, which speaks to how difficult of a time MLS clubs have had in this continental competition.
Still, Alajuelense beat D.C. United 5-2 at home in the quarterfinal round, so this is far from over. Alajuelense coach Oscar Ramirez confidently stated after Wednesday’s game that “this (series) is still wide open,” and his counterpart on the night agreed.
“We know that it’s not over. We’re happy with our result here but we know we have to go play in a difficult environment in (Costa Rica). … The mentality has to be the same as we had tonight,” Montreal assistant coach Mauro Biello warned.
Two weeks ago it was a Cameron Porter goal deep into injury time of the second leg quarterfinal versus Mexican outfit Pachuca that allowed the Impact to advance on the away goals rule. Montreal coach Frank Klopas took a gamble on Wednesday in starting Porter, who has only made two substitute appearances since being drafted by the Impact in January.
But the rookie repaid Klopas’ faith with a splendid and mature performance — the Princeton product held up the ball effectively, displayed some expert dribbling skills in tight spaces, and looked dangerous as the front-man in Montreal’s 4-2-3-1 formation.
“I was way more nervous coming into the first leg against Pachuca than (starting) in this game. At this point, it’s more excitement than anything just for an opportunity to get on the field,” Porter said of his first start for Montreal.
Although Alajuelense started brightly, they soon found themselves unable to deal with Montreal’s pace, especially the speedy Dominic Oduro down the right flank. It was the former TFC man who, in the 10th minute, made a probing run down the wing and delivered a low pass into the middle of the box. Porter played a great dummy, confounding the Alajuelense defence, and Piatti slammed it home.
“Dominic has a lot of pace, and for us he keeps the defence honest by getting in behind (them) and we wanted to use that as part of our plan to see if we could quickly transition with Dominic out wide and in behind. By doing so, you create more space for Piatti underneath,” Biello explained.
Montreal doubled its lead five minutes later when Alajuelense failed to clear its lines off a corner kick. The ball fell to Cabrera who didn’t hit it cleanly, but his knuckleball shot managed to handcuff Dexter Lewis and trickle past the Alajuelense goalkeeper.
The opening 45 minutes was some of the best soccer the Impact have played in a long time. Alajuelense simply couldn’t keep up with the hosts, outplayed and overawed by a vibrant Montreal side that was ruthless in exploiting the Costa Ricans’ high defensive line.
“We were able to catch them a little bit unbalanced,” Biello said of Alajuelense defence.
The Costa Ricans were chasing the game after conceding twice, and although they pressed with more vigour in the second half, they were unable to open up the Impact’s defence and test goalkeeper Evan Bush.
Porter came close to scoring deep into injury time, only to see the Alajuelense goalkeeper dive to parry away his blistering shot from distance.
“I thought he had a very good game. He gave their back line a lot of problems, and they had to deal with him. He was constantly putting pressure on them, he held up balls and he gave as opportunity to come out when we were deep,” Biello said of Porter.
If Montreal does get by Alajuelense, then another Costa Rican side probably awaits them in the final — Herediano defeated Mexican side Club America 3-0 in the first leg of the other semifinal on Tuesday night.
NOTES: Montreal is undefeated at home in the CONCACAF Champions League with an overall record of eight wins and three ties, including nine shutouts… Klopas was suspended for Wednesday’s contest (he picked up a red card in the second leg of the quarterfinals) and wasn’t allowed to sit on the bench with his team… After having a bye last week, the Impact return to MLS action this Saturday when they visit the New England Revolution. Montreal makes its home debut in MLS the following Saturday versus Orlando City.
