Montreal's misery is Santos' joy

Friday, 06 March 09, 12:13 AM · Comments (0)

Santos Laguna 5 : 2 Montreal Impact (5-4 on aggregate).

Benitez 16 (San), Brown 24 (Mon), Sebrango 38 (Mon), Vuoso 52, 75 (San), Quintero 90*, 90* (San)

Montreal's dream came to an abrupt end in the most heartbreaking of fashions. After going down early, the Quebec side managed to peg back Santos twice to find themselves leading in Torreon. It was done by taking the game to a Santos side which found itself forced to attack having lost the first leg 2-0.

Montreal seemingly caught a break in the first half when Mexican international goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez was subbed off after a leg injury, no word on how serious the injury is. The Impact quickly took advantage of his replacement Miguel Becerra when first leg hero Eddy Sebrango made it 2-1.

Despite all of this, Montreal abandoned their plan in the second half and resorted to defending, a move which proved deadly. Santos equalized early in the half through Matías Vuoso, and took the match lead through him on 75 minutes. At this point it still seemed unthinkable than Santos would find two more goals and Montreal continued to defend as the Mexicans heaped on the pressure. Many times Montreal found themselves saved simply by their height advantage granting them the ability to clear crosses and corner kicks, but soon Santos found a way to break Montreal's backs through Carlos Quintero. The Colombian striker netted twice deep into injury time to break Montreal's hearts and seal a place for his side in the semifinals where they will face fellow Mexicans Atlante.

It meant the end of the road for Montreal's unlikely journey, but they won't be without pride. The Impact represented Canadian soccer in a better light than anyone involved could have hoped, and for that they should keep their heads head high.

As for the United Soccer Leagues, they still have an interest in the Champions League as Puerto Rico managed to top Marathon of Honduras 1-0 (3-1 on aggregate) to claim a spot against Cruz Azul in the other semifinal.

Like this blog? Help spread the word: