MONTREAL – Despite the road point, the New York Red Bulls may leave Montreal with some regrets.
An early Lloyd Sam equalizer in the second half gave the Red Bulls a 1-1 draw against the Montreal Impact on Wednesday night at Stade Saputo. But they were unable to benefit from an 11-minute man advantage after the dismissal of Montreal center back Laurent Ciman, who was sent off with a second yellow card.
Former Impact player Felipe nearly won the game for the Red Bulls on the final play of the game, but he hit the far post with his free kick.
The tie snaps a three-game winning streak for the Red Bulls (9-6-6, 33 pts), who remain in second place in the East, eight points behind conference leaders D.C. United with three games in hand. Montreal (8-8-4, 28 pts) stay in sixth place in the East, one point in front of seventh-placed Orlando City.
Sam equalized in the 52nd minute. Mike Grella’s cross from the left reached Sam, who had Montreal left back Donny Toia on his back, just outside the six-yard box. Sam fell down but somehow managed to turn the cross past Evan Bush.
Montreal had opened the scoreline through center forward Dominic Oduro late in the first half. Having beaten central defender Karl W. Ouimette to the ball near the penalty area, Oduro slipped a pass to Dilly Duka and followed his service. In an attempt to beat his marker, Duka cushioned the ball, but Oduro hit it first-time past Luis Robles.
The goal was Montreal’s third and last shot on target in the opening stanza. The Red Bulls, for their part, managed none although they looked the more likely to break the deadlock early on. Grella got a great look as early as the third minute. Unmarked outside the area, Grella couldn’t believe that he’d curled his shot wide.
Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch, on his return to the stadium that was his home in 2012, was also in disbelief 11 minutes later when Ciman was only shown a yellow for an intentional handball in front of Bradley Wright-Phillips, who would have been through on goal otherwise.
Marsch got some poetic justice in the 79th minute. Ciman picked up his second yellow card for a slide tackle on substitute Sal Zizzo in midfield. But the Red Bulls failed to break down Montreal's re-arranged backline, which had to be altered after all of the Impact's substitutions were used. One of those substitutes was newcomer Johan Venegas, who made his debut for the club.
The Impact will next host D.C. United this Saturday at Stade Saputo. The Red Bulls return home for their next game a day later, taking on crosstown rivals New York City FC at Red Bull Arena.
