It was a cold, wet night at Red Bull Arena where RBNY took on the Montreal Impact for the last fixture in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. Before the match against the Impact, RBNY was already eliminated from the competition after slipping to defeat against CD FAS in El Salvador. Tonight was mainly an opportunity for the younger players and the bench to give their best effort. RBNY was using a 5-2-2-1 tonight, using Duvall, Kimura and Connor Lade as more of an attacking defender. The entire squad tonight seemed to be on the attack, minus the middle and right centerback positions. Many chances were squandered by the RBNY players. Sene had many, many chances but couldn’t finish any of them. There was a scare in the first half when the Impact’s Jack McInerney had an amazing opportunity to easily make it 1-0, but missed the shot over the bar. The ground was completely drenched from the torrential downpour that refused to let up throughout the match. Players were slipping on routine plays. The first half was a decent battle fought by both sides. The second half was no different.
CCL: Red Bulls’ Final Match
The game was fairly balanced until the 71st minute until Impact’s McInerey netted a clean finish to give Montreal the advantage. On the play, the RBNY defense looked very fatigued and sluggish. A lot of errors and slips caused possession changes. However, the team got a great lift when Lade scored a great header in the 84th minute. Lade had just returned from his loan at the New York Cosmos this past week. He was a prominent player for RBNY, as evident through his pressing, attacking play, leading breakaways etc. Not lacking in energy, he was bound to be involved in anything positive RBNY would do this night.
RBNY had seven shots with two on goal tonight, with the Impact having six shots, three of those being on target. The game was surprisingly combative, with two physical teams fighting tooth and nail. The Impact had committed twelve fouls with RBNY violating nine times. There was even a scuffle in the 88th minute of time between the two sides, with Gagnon-Lapare getting a yellow card for a hard foul. The Impact earned seven corners, while RBNY had a total of 5. The game wasn’t supposed to be too serious for RBNY, but the Impact line-up featured the majority of their first team tonight. This was in order to clinch a better position in the knockout rounds. More than likely, they will face a Central American or a Mexican side in the knockout stages.
For RBNY, this is the last match they will be playing in this competition, and it proved to be a great opportunity for the young or “bubble” players to get an opportunity to shine.
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