Supporters of the Montreal Impact were able to take a breath of fresh air this past week. A busy week saw the Impact play two matches and make a trade.
Last week started off well with the Impact defeating FC Edmonton to qualify for the Canadian Championship final. In what should have been a walk in the park, the Impact were lucky to advance, and needed a penalty shot in injury time to knock off the feisty NASL squad 4-2. Although the Impact are still struggling on the defensive side of things, there were some positives up front. Newcomer, Jack McInerney slotted home two goals and seems to be fitting in nicely to the Montreal squad.
The Canadian Championship final will be played over two legs (May 28 and June 4) against Toronto FC. The winner will gain entry into the CONCACAF Champions League.
A busy week continued on Friday with the Impact trading midfielder Collen Warner to Toronto FC in exchange for Canadian International Issey Nakajima-Farran. Warner had been a versatile midfielder over the past three seasons with the Impact, often coming off the bench to help solidify matches. However this season manager Frank Klopas had used Warner consistently in the starting eleven. With Patrice Bernier and Hernan Bernardello healthy again, perhaps management saw Warner as an expendable piece of the midfield, and decided now was a good time to pull the trigger on a trade. Nakajima-Farran will be an interesting addition to the Montreal midfield hoping to provide some balance on the wing opposite of Justin Mapp.
After the victory over FC Edmonton and the trade, the Impact faced off against DC United on Saturday evening. Without question this was the best match the Impact had played all season, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw. The midfield was able to hold possession for periods throughout the match (something that has eluded them all season) and generate a number of quality scoring chances.
DC United looked dangerous at times, particularly in the opening ten minutes of the match, however the Impact were able push the DC attack to the side (with the help of the post on a number of occasions). Jack McInerney continued this great week with the only goal for the Impact in the 56’. McInerney seems to be carving his place out in the starting eleven nicely taking some of the pressure off Marco Di Vaio.
This weekend sees the Impact go to Colorado to take on the Rapids. It appears that the ailing defence could get a boost with both Nelson Rivas and Adrián López returning to training. After a difficult start to the season, a road victory over Colorado could provide a huge boost to team morale and help turn the Impact around.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @John_Richan. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football.
For the latest injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
