MONTREAL – The Impact’s second loss to New York City FC this season was a tough pill to swallow – especially for goalkeeper Evan Bush.
In their 2-1 home loss to New York City on Saturday night at Stade Saputo, Montreal attempted 25 shots, 10 of which were on target – many of them dangerous. Head coach Frank Klopas called it “one of the best games we’ve played here at home, start to finish.”
Bush, however, offered a tough analysis of his own performance. For him, it just didn’t matter that it was Spanish star David Villa scoring NYCFC’s two goals; he felt he cost his team points on the night.
“I could have made the saves that I didn’t make,” Bush told reporters postgame. “It’s simple. Both goals, I feel like I should save. Sometimes, you have games like that. You don’t want to have games like that. But tonight, I did, and unfortunately, it came on a night when we played a pretty good game. We created a lot of chances. I just feel bad that I let the guys down.”
Villa’s first goal, in the 35th minute, could perhaps have been stopped, but the shot was impeccably placed. The second goal, on the other hand, was a free kick curled around the wall into a gaping hole at the bottom right corner of the net.
Bush pounding the ground in frustration after the strike told the whole story.
“Yeah, I was fine with [the positioning of the wall],” Bush said. “You want the guy to take the shot to that side. You can’t cover the whole goal with the wall. If he’s going to beat you over the top of the wall, then, that’s fine. At the end of the day, the wall wasn’t a problem. It was the save that I should make, and that’s all it is.”
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Bush later put his feelings out on Twitter, typing that the “boys deserved more tonight.” But the boys threw their unconditional support behind their No. 1 goalkeeper.
“Bush could have that back, he would definitely save that,” left back Donny Toia said. “Maybe if he was a step a little bit further, or saw it a little bit earlier, I think he would have got there. I’m not a goalie, so I don’t know his perspective or anything like that, but I would probably take it just as hard.”
Added midfielder Calum Mallace: “[Bush] is a good professional. Just like any player, he assesses his performance, and we’re obviously going to support him, no matter what.”
Olivier Tremblay covers the Montreal Impact for MLSsoccer.com.
