The temperature at the Saputo Stadium in Montreal Wednesday night read 20 degrees Celsius - a bit cooler than what Joe Public might be accustomed to in Trinidad. The Caribbean players looked a bit cold at times, especially when the rain came pouring down during the match.
Montreal took the game to Joe Public from the start and was rewarded a corner within the first minute of the game. By the tenth, Impact was on their third and it didn't take long for them to score. Two minutes later defender Stefano Pesoli would scissors kick a shot past Public goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa after Joe Public defense failed to clear a Leonardo Di Lorenzo corner headed for the far post. Donatelli headed the ball back to the lurking Pesoli who made no mistake as he put his side 1-0 up.
From there on Montreal controlled the tempo of the game. Peter Byers had a good run on goal in the 35th but his shot was weak and was parried away by Figueroa. Joe Public did however have a few bright moments in the first half. A chance was turned away in the 24th minute when two of T&T's internationals combined well. A Kerry Baptiste corner met the head of Keyeno Thomas and the defender had a strong one on goal; unfortunately it went straight to keeper Matt Jordan, who punched it away.
The game continued and Montreal started to sit back after scoring and decided to protect their one goal lead. Joe Public on the other hand never really took advantage of Montreal’s deep defending until the 44th minute when the Eastern Lions had an attempt on goal and could have gone into the half 1-1. A dangerous low cross by striker Gregory Richardson – after skipping past 2 Montreal defenders on the right side – beat everyone including the goalkeeper, but Arnold Dwarika was unable to reach the ball for a simple tap-in.
The second half started off more or less the same. Montreal continued where they left off and scored in the first minute to make it 2-0. Felix Brillant sent a pass from midfield to Gjertsen. The latter flicked it with his head to Donatelli on the right side, who hesitated then lifted a shot over goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa.
Richardson had a glorious chance in the 54th minute, but Jordan dove to turn away his low shot after an open run up the left side. In the 80th, Jordan was sharp in tipping a Keyeno Thomas blast from close range over the bar as Joe Public piled on the pressure. Unlike T&T coach Maturana, Keith Griffith with his back against the wall down 2-0, brought on some substitutes and made some tactical changes in search of important away goals or at least, dignity. He should have at least been rewarded for his trouble as Joe Public controlled the final 30 minutes or so and had Montreal back-pedalling.
Striker Peter Byers who was gunning for Joe Public, was yellow carded in the 90+ minute for wasting time, and that was probably the best contribution the big man from Antigua made all night for Montreal. His compatriot Gason Gregory was an unused sub. Both played in the T&T pro league just months ago for San Juan Jabloteh.
The game eventually ended at 2-0 in favor of the host and Joe Public will have to count themselves lucky not to have conceded more goals. Their defence were caught napping on many occasions and Montreal found gap after gap. Joe Public played high and was caught many times on the backfoot as their defenders who went forward to assist in attack had some poor recovery time. Defender Keyeno Thomas had a decent game especially going forward and would finish the game with more shots on goal than his teammate, Jamaican striker Reon Nelson.
Captain Dale Saunders, normally the iron in midfield, never stamped his authority. Dwarika was having a poor game despite getting some decent passes in and they weren’t up to his normal standard; many went astray or were intercepted. Right-back Carlyle Mitchell contributed to Public's attack as they surged forward in search of goals, but like Thomas he was caught out tracking back on many occasions. Fortunately for him, Montreal never made anything of their counter attacks or else Joe Public might have been in a deeper hole.
Surprisingly, Wolry Wolfe was not the player he was a week ago against New England. Alejandro Figueroa had a horrible night, as his goal keeping was very suspect. Jason Springer was probably Joe Public’s worst defender of the night after having a good game versus New England. Then again, everyone had a good game against New England.
Christopher Harvey stayed back and did what was asked, but got beat for pace though. Shane Calderon came on and settled well, and looked better in central midfield than he did on the wing when he first came on. A neat passer of the ball, Silas Spann and the experienced Gary Glasgow were unused subs. Dexter Thornhill came on instead but didn't make any penetrative runs.
Kerry Baptiste, who was under heavy manners particularly in the second half, looked out of pace. Striker Gregory Richardson played wide for the most part and couldn't do much; he looked better when he played in a more central role.
All in all, Joe Public was not too impressive and the better team won; they didn't look the same team that beat the New England Revs a week ago. But in all fairness to them the weather seemed to have contributed to their play. However, if you ask me, they should look to beef up their defense and goalkeeping department as both were really poor and are in need of some serious attention to avoid things getting ugly in Mexico and Honduras when they visit.
Up next for Joe Public will be CD Olimpia of Honduras at the Marvin Lee Stadium, a week from now. Expect an improved performance from the Eastern Lions. Good luck to the Joe Public side and hopefully they will qualify for the next round and finally silence the biasness of the Fox Soccer Channel commentators once and for all.
As for the Impact, who beat out Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship this summer to become the lone Canadian team in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, their next match is next Wednesday at home against Atlante.
Teams -
Joe Public: - 1-Alejandro Figueroa; 13-Jason Springer, 23-Keyeno Thomas, 20-Christopher Harvey, 19-Carlyle Mitchell; 11-Wolry Wolfe (7-Shane Calderon 60th), 8-Dale Saunders © (10-Lyndon Andrews 79th), 9-Arnold Dwarika, 17-Kerry Baptiste; 14-Reon Nelson (18-Dexter Thornhill 71st), 21-Gregory Richardson.
Subs not used: - 24-Andre Charles Foster (G), 3-Peterson Desrivières (D), 15-Elusma Pierre (D), 30-Silas Spann (M).
Montreal Impact: - 1-Matt Jordan; 33-Adam Braz, 24-Simon Gatti, 16-Stefano Pesoli, 5-Nevio Pizzolitto; 3-Tony Donatelli (20-Mauro Biello 62nd), 18-Leonardo Di Lorenzo, 12-Sandro Grande, 21-Félix Brillant (9-Rocco Placentino 79th); 28-Peter Byers, 17-Joey Gjertsen (26-Cédric Joqueviel 74th).
Subs not used: - 22-Andrew Weber (G), 13-Gason Gregory (M), 11-Severino Jefferson (F), 23-Antonio Ribeiro (F).
Yellow Cards: - Peter Byers (MI), Jason Springer (JP), Dale Saunders (JP).
Weather: - Showers, 20 degrees Celsius.
Venue: - Saputo Stadium Montreal, Canada.
Attendance: - 7631.
Stats - Joe Public v Montreal
10 Shots 10
6 Saves 7
8 Fouls 4
1 Off-Sides 5
10 Corners 5
Donatelli, Jordan lift Montreal past Joe Public.
By: CONCACAF.COM.
Tony Donatelli scored one goal and help set up another to lift the Montreal Impact past Joe Public FC of Trinidad and Tobago 2:0 Wednesday night, enabling it to prevail on a slippery surface at Saputo Stadium in its CONCACAF Champions League group opener.
Defender Stefano Pesoli struck a well-placed volley past Joe Public goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa to give Montreal the lead in the 14th minute. Leonardo Dilorenzo sent a corner kick across the area to Dontelli, who headed a square ball across the six-yard box to Pesoli.
Montreal goalkeeper Matt Jordan was key to Montreal’s victory, denying Joe Public several times, including thwarting Gregory Richardson’s header in the 25th.
The Guyana-born striker, who scored three times in the second leg of Joe Public’s Preliminary Round upset of the New England Revolution, out jumped Impact defenders and headed a Wolry Wolfe corner kick towards the top corner of the Montreal goal, forcing Jordon to tip the ball over the cross bar.
Jordan again denied Richardson in the 28th, charging off his line to clear the ball with a slide tackle at the top of the area. Montreal consolidated its lead two minutes into the second half when Donatelli scored.
Donatelli collected a deflected ball from the feet of Joe Public defender Jason Springer, who was attempting to clear a swirling cross from Montreal’s Peter Byers. Donatelli snapped up the free ball and buried it in the roof of the net past a sprawling Figueroa.
"I read somewhere that we'll probably finish last in our group and that we don't belong," Montreal coach John Limniatis said`. "But if Joe Public belongs, I guess we do, too. "It's all played on the field. In theory, Atlante is the best and the others will compete for second place. Now we have three points and we need to get points from every game." Joe Public continued to press were denied again by Jordan in the 55th minute, when Richardson found himself at point-blank range in the penalty area but was thwarted by a spectacular left-footed save.
In the 85th minute, Joe Public second-half substitute Lyndon Andrews was denied by Jordan after Andrews found himself one-on-one with the Montreal keeper after a through ball from Richardson.
Joe Public coach Keith Griffith is sure Jordan "can't be that brilliant again."
"The next time we meet the Impact at Marvin Lee (Stadium in Trinidad), we'll beat them by four goals clear, for sure."
The match at Montreal’s recently christened Saputo Stadium in was played in a light but steady rain and several of the Joe Public players appeared to have trouble keeping their footing on the slippery natural turf surface, which was covered in divots and skid marks by halftime.
Montreal Impact club president Joey Saputo indicated before the match that an unusually rainy summer in eastern Canada had not allowed deep roots to establish themselves and had contributed to the problems with the playing surface.
The field conditions at Saputo Stadium were also a problem during a World Cup qualifying match between Canada and Honduras on 6 September.