The Montreal Impact weathered an early storm from New York City FC on Saturday, then struck back to earn a road point via a second-half strike by Dominic Oduro at wind-swept Yankee Stadium.
The hosts dominated the first 45 minutes, spurning a bevy of inviting scoring chances before finally forging ahead via a Rodney Wallace finish just before the break.
NYCFC were made to pay for their wastefulness in the 68th minute, however, when Oduro chested down a delicately-lofted pass from Patrice Bernier and smashed the equalizer past Sean Johnson to force a 1-1 draw.
- NYCFC left "frustrated" as poor finishing costs them victory over Montreal
- Fighting for minutes in Montreal, Oduro stakes his claim with clutch strike
Goals
Three Things
- RODNEY RULES: Wallace's rapid re-acclimation to MLS after a year-plus abroad continues. The Costa Rican international has now bagged two goals and an assist in his first three games for NYCFC, as well as providing valuable width on the left flank to open up space for his teammates.
- CANADIAN SURVIVALISTS: The Impact were out-shot, out-possessed, out-dueled and second-best in most other statistical categories. But in a throwback to their run to the 2015 CONCACAF Champions League final, they soaked up pressure and persevered to earn an opportunistic road result.
- COLD WINDS, HOT HEADS: It's somewhat surprising that referee Mark Geiger only had to give out two bookings in this one, as the match carried an ill-tempered edge for long periods with hard tackles flying in both directions. The chilly conditions did little to calm flaring tempers and NYCFC defender Maxime Chanot was a bit lucky to see only a yellow after several clashes with Impact players.
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