Chelsea legend Drogba announces Montreal Impact departure

“Two away goals are big”.

Tuesday night’s thrilling MLS Eastern Conference Championship featuring Montreal Impact vs. Toronto FC game had it all – including record-breaking ratings.

Dominic Oduro, Matteo Mancosu and Ambroise Oyongo scored as the Montreal Impact earned a 3-2 win over Toronto FC in the Eastern Conference final first leg.

Toronto FC were formerly coached by ex-All Whites skipper Ryan Nelsen between 2013-14. “Our guys have played in environments similar to this and I think it’s motivation one way or another”. Whether you’re a hockey or basketball or soccer fan, it doesn’t matter. “They don’t have to be anything different whether there’s 30,000 or 60,000”. “Everybody knows that it was my last game here, and that’s it, let’s focus on the conference final”.

For TFC, the introductions of Tosaint Ricketts and Will Johnson in the second half along with a formation change helped propel them back into the game. “No one’s doing any congratulating yet because there’s a big game left”. Played at a sold out Olympic Stadium in Montreal, the atmosphere for this rivalry game will be off the hook. I was happy the club honored him after the game. “But I still think we have a good team”. It shows how the team has grown over the past five years.

All three lines of the 18-yard box at one end were drawn about two yards too close to the goal and had to be repainted before the game could begin.

There are few secrets between them.

With that threat averted, Montreal then conjured a moment of genius out of nothing; Camara’s quick upfield pass to midfielder Patrice Bernier saw the Montreal captain quickly spin and fire a gorgeous ball down the inside-right channel.

The two sides seem to patch up their problems and Drogba returned for the conference semifinals. “Kind of like Nacho (Piatti)”. But the Rapids picked up an important road goal which could serve as the tiebreaker if the aggregate-goal series finishes tied. The second leg of the two-games, total-goals series is to be played November 30 in Toronto.

“We have to do our best to protect our goals and obviously put away the opportunities that we have.”

Mostly, the teams just want to play.

Instantly, a Montreal blowout was flipped to a decent result for Toronto. It’s a suffocating system, and it’s how Toronto score their goals.