So Frank Lampard made his debut, finally, but NYC FC couldn’t find a victory today. Montreal produced an excellent counter-attacking performance, and Ignacio Piatti and Dominic Oduro were super in attack. They deserved to win, and arguably could have scored more goals.
Lampard did OK in his 20 minutes, but didn’t really have any chances. Pirlo looked half-fit, and David Villa was a cut above. More work defensive needed from NYC FC.
Thanks for reading. Goodbye.
Full-time: NYC FC 2-3 Montreal Impact
That’s it!
90 min + 4: Some slightly wacky defending from Montreal, including a headed clearance from Bush when he could have used his hands, but they do enough to clear. Seconds left.
90 min + 3: David Villa again! On the turn, hits a shot from 18 yards, but again it’s straight at Bush. Ninety seconds to go.
90 min + 2: Pirlo’s deep free kick. Mix Diskerud wins the header, but no one can reach the knockdown. Montreal breathe.
90 min: NYC are trying to push Montreal back. David Villa shoots from outside the box, but Evan Bush saves, albeit nervily. Four minutes of stoppage time.
89 min: Final change for Montreal: Romero out, Maxime Tissot in.
88 min: Pirlo looks absolutely spent. Piatti wins it in midfield, feeds Oduro, and he runs beyond Mena, and he’s in … but his shot is reckless, and it’s wide. Another really decent chance. Montreal have been pretty poor in front of goal, despite scoring three.
86 min: That was a very good goal from McNamara: he linked up nicely with Angelino, accepted the return pass, and hit it low past Bush. Game on!
GOAL! NYC FC 2-3 Montreal Impact (McNamara 85)
It’s all happening!
GOAL! NYC FC 1-3 Montreal Impact (Piatti pen 84)
Lovely counter-attack from Montreal, and Oduro fed Piatti. Iraola came in, and then Saunders, but it looked as though both players won it cleanly. No matter: Piatti rolls it in easily.
83 min: Penalty to Montreal! Another soft one!
82 min: Laurent Ciman, who’s been excellent, wins it cleanly, and Montreal come away with it. Lampard hasn’t been greatly involved, but he’s stalking. Don’t take your eye off him!
80 min: Another sub for Montreal: Eric Alexander comes in. Iraola hammers it from distance: it’s over the bar, but it took a deflection. Pirlo’s ball in is wicked, header from Kwadwo Poku is too high.
77 min: Nigel Reo-Coker is in for Callum Mallace. Romero cuts in from the flank, but his ball for Oduro is rotten to the core. NYC clear.
76 min: Pirlo’s ball into a dangerous area, but Evan Bush collects bravely.
75 min: Romero is booked for kicking the ball away after he blocked David Villa. Decent free kick area for the hosts.
73 min: Lampard is on for Jacobson, so he’s nominally playing as the second in a 4-2-3-1 alongside Pirlo. Good in theory, but NYC were so open just then as Montreal broke.
71 min: Perverse header from Donadel, and he concedes a cheap corner. It’s another waste, though, and Montreal break: NYC are all over the place, and Oduro finds Piatti, in front of goal, clean through … and he puts it wide! Huge letoff for NYC. Piatti hangs his head, as well he might.
70 min: I can’t believe this is a one-goal game. Montreal have been markedly superior, and that PK decision came after Piatti had a really really good chance for 3-0. I think he should have passed.
Frank Lampard enters!
69 min: And if that wasn’t enough to rouse the crowd, here’s their new hero. Lampard is in!
GOAL! NYC FC 1-2 Montreal Impact (David Villa 68 pen)
Low and hard. No trouble. Montreal were upset about that decision, and you can see why: there wasn’t much in it. Oyongo committed himself, but did he really impede McNamara?
67 min: Penalty to NYC FC! Oyongo on McNamara. It looked soft!
66 min: Ooh, another good chance for Montreal. Toia just belted it forward, and suddenly Montreal were 2 v 2 on the break: Piatti picked it up, took on the defender, but his shot dribbled wide. He had options: should he have passed?
64 min: Pirlo with a rocket from distance! From 30 yards out, he took a fabulous first touch, and just hit through it: it dipped and swerved, but just wide. Like a less successful version of this:
62 min: Diskerud runs out of space. Here’s Ben Thompson:
After living in NY for many years before moving to London, and now enjoying “summer” on the Scottish Borders, not sure how any reasonable athletic endeavors can really take place in the Northeast U.S. in August. Have I just gotten weak??
Yeah, it’s too hot. We should all be inside in a air-conditioned Burger King.
61 min: Pirlo’s corner is begging for someone to attack it, but Montreal clear. Pirlo watch: he’s shown some nice touches, but hasn’t really influenced things in the way you might expect.
60 min: Double substitution for NYC FC – but neither of them is Frank Lampard! Poku and Diskerud in, Grabavoy and Calle out.
59 min: Piatti gets away from Hernandez, and finds Duka, but his shot is tame. Montreal look dangerous on the break.
58 min: Good ball from Pirlo to McNamara on the left, and McNamara cuts inside Oyongo, but his shot lacks power. Easy save for Bush.
56 min: What a chance for Dilly Duka! Piatti chipped it forward, Oduro flicked it on, and everybody stopped, assuming Duka was offside. But there was no flag, and he was all alone in front in goal. Saunders did well to come out and smother, but Duka should have made it three.
54 min: NYC have been better in possession in this second half, but Montreal break quickly, and Hernandez is yellow-carded for a block on Oduro, who had beaten him for pace.
51 min: Montreal happy to keep possession. Anyone got any thoughts? On anything?
49 min: Just over the top from Villa! He did superbly down the left, and got away from Victor Cabrera, but his shot was deflected over. Corner to NYC, but the whistle goes for a push.
47 min: That’s the first two-on-one situation that NYC have created: Angelino and Calle did well down the left, but Montreal cut out the cross. Better from the hosts.
Second half begins
46 min: Montreal kick off. No sign of Lampard – yet.
Half-time: NYC FC 0-2 Montreal Impact
That’s the whistle. Montreal well on top.
45 min: Donadel can’t believe he’s been yellow carded for that challenge on Grabavoy, but his arm caught the face … maybe a bit unlucky.
44 min: Goal for NYC FC! No – offside! David Villa ran beyond the backline from Grabavoy’s clever pass, but the captain had just gone too early. A shame, but the linesman got it right.
43 min: That is a card this time for Mena: again, he came right through the back of Oduro. That’s a bad challenge: he led with his forearm, and hit him right in the back of the head. Ugly, but only yellow.
42 min: Ciman is called for a push. He’s been really good in this first half.
41 min: Now Montreal come forward, and Oduro forces a corner. Donadel’s ball in, and Jacobson gives it straight to Ciman, but his shot is blocked. Another corner.
39 min: Pirlo’s low cross for David Villa is imaginative, but Montreal get bodies back and clear. The visitors break, but Romero doesn’t time his shot, and it trickles through to Saunders.
38 min: That’s better from the hosts: Pirlo and David Villa and Iraola combine, and Villa’s cross is cut out for a corner.
36 min: A damning stat: 35 minutes in, and NYC haven’t had a shot on target.
34 min: He’s been the game’s best player, and Ignacio Piatti has just scored an excellent goal. Romero had time and space in midfield, and looked for Piatti over the top: the captain got away from Iraola, and as Saunders came out, he just lifted it over the keeper and into the net. The touch of a snowflake. Montreal are all over NYC!
GOAL! NYC FC 0-2 Montreal Impact (Piatti 32)
Another long ball, another goal. Piatti!
Updated
29 min: Mena comes right through the back of Oduro, but no card! That’s fortunate for Mena: he was nowehere near the ball. NYC are struggling, and the crowd is quiet.
Alexi Lalas makes an interesting point:
Not a lot of color contrast at Yankee Stadium. All the blue and white just blending together on TV. #NYCvMTL
— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) August 1, 2015
Yeah!
26 min: Montreal just look a bit sharper, quicker and more organised. They’re good value for their lead, as the cliche goes. Iraola’s pass for McNamara is mildly hopeless, and that’s a Montreal goal kick.
24 min: Yellow card for Calle for late, ugly trip on Odoro. From the free-kick, Laurent Ciman has a blast, but it’s good hands from Saunders.
22 min: Piatti has found a lot of space so far, in that pocket between the NYC defence and midfield, and he looks dangerous. David Villa tries to pep up his team with a slalom through the Montreal defence, but he can’t quite get his shot away.
19 min: Pirlo has time, and he finds Calle, but the Colombian’s first touch is off, and Montreal recover.
18 min: Montreal have runners from midfield who are prepared to go beyond the strikers, and NYC look short at the back. Ciman, shaved head glistening in the sun, is called for a foul. Iraola’s ball in finds David Villa, who is free, but his header is wayward. NYC FC’s best chance.
16 min: Pirlo’s been heavily involved so far, but the home side haven’t been able to bring David Villa into it yet. Iraola’s ball in is laid back by McNamara, but Calle can’t profit. Now Oyongo does well down the right for Montreal, but his cross is poor. And another good save from Saunders, from Mallace’s shot. Montreal are well on top here.
12 min: NYC haven’t started so well. Bring Lampard on! Cabrera eases Pirlo off it, and Piatti comes away with it, evading several weary tackles … but Oduro is marginally offside! Piatti probably should have released earlier, but Oduro was looking across the line, and that was slack. He could have been in there!
11 min: Another corner for Montreal, who have been excellent in this opening period. Ciman looked to attack Duka’s ball in, but Hernandez did well to clear.
9 min: Montreal have started well, and Oduro looks a threat: he just worried Mena, but couldn’t get his shot away.
8 min: Saunders parries well from Dilly Duka’s blast. That’s a good save, but it’s a corner. Nothing comes of it, though.
Updated
6 min: Well, what a way to quieten the crowd. Laurent Ciman played a long ball, 60 yards or so, and Dominic Oduro got away from the NYC defence. Saunders came out, but without much impetus, and Oduro just poked it through his legs, and rolled it into the net. Not the most amazing goalkeeping.
GOAL! NYC FC 0-1 Montreal Impact (Oduro 5)
Ha! Montreal lead. Party poopers!
4 min: Pirlo is dispossessed by Piatti, and Montreal come away with it. They can’t fashion a chance.
2 min: Corner to NYC, and Pirlo trots over to take it, to hearty applause. Pirlo’s hair looks extra glossy today. The corner comes to naught, and Pirlo looks for McNamara over the top, but Evan Bush claims.
And we're off!
1 min: And it’s clunked straight into touch. Oh well. Things can only get better.
OK, the teams are out. We’re almost ready.
Here’s Lampard in his new uniform:
A note: Didier Drogba is not in the Impact squad today. There’s no word on when he’s going to make his debut, but he met his team-mates on Friday, and will begin training next week.
Kick off at Yankee Stadium is 2pm ET. It’s filthy hot and humid in New York.
Here’s an early email from JR in Illinois. Crivens!
Hey Tim,
Did you see what Manchester City got up to earlier? Crivens, they were horrific. Kompany does not look like he’s recovering from last year. If anything he looks worse.
They may want to look into grabbing some defenders from NYCFC before the start of the season. A new manager might not hurt either.
FWIW, I like Pellegrini, and I think he’s a good coach, but I agree with you about Kompany: I think he looks the part, because he’s big and strong and determined, but errors keep being made. Could City move for John Stones?
Updated
Lampard's on the bench!
But Andrea Pirlo starts for the first time:
#NYCFC Starting XI vs. @impactmontreal presented by @cocojoyusa pic.twitter.com/ejwbhMemRU
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) August 1, 2015
And here’s the Impact side:
VOTRE alignement partant. YOUR starting lineup. TV >> TVA Sports Radio >> TSN Radio 690 #IMFC #NYCvMTL pic.twitter.com/9G2QWqQrBD
— Impact de Montréal (@impactmontreal) August 1, 2015
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a look at what this MLS weekend has in store:
New York City coach Jason Kreis did, however, give fans hope ahead of this weekend, telling reporters: “I’ve said this every single week, but this time I think I can say that I actually feel it – [Lampard] should be ready,” a statement that sounded more like a prayer than a promise. Nevertheless, there should be enough talent in the side to see City leapfrog the visitors into the final Eastern playoff spot, Lamps’ absence be damned.
