Montreal CF Montreal
2-1
Columbus Crew

FT(HT: 1-1)

Johan Venegas strikes late as Montreal Impact draw first blood

Montreal Impact beat Columbus Crew 2-1 in Canada to earn a slender first-leg lead in the Eastern Conference playoff semi-final.

By Shane Callaghan, Reporter

Published: November 2 2015 | 03:00

Last updated: November 2 2015 | 12:17

Johan Venegas struck a 77th-minute winner as Montreal Impact beat Columbus Crew 2-1 to earn a first-leg advantage in their Eastern Conference semi-final playoff at the Saputo Stadium.

The Canadians dominated the opening stages as Chelsea legend Didier Drogba fired just wide on two occasions in a fast and furious first half an hour for the hosts.

Despite their dominance, it was Crew who edged ahead when Federico Higuain turned home an Ethan Finlay corner on the 33-minute mark - though the lead would only last minutes.

The Impact continued in the same vein and saw their patience rewarded when Patrice Bernier levelled up by converting a Marco Donadel cross from close range to ensure parity at the break.

Montreal continued to dominate after the break, with Donadel and Calum Mallace testing Steve Clark as Columbus clung on, but it only slowed the inevitable.

With 13 minutes of normal time to go, Venegas, who replaced Nigel Reo-Coker midway through the half, curled past Clark from the edge of the box as Impact drew first blood in the tie.

amp_article__255473 : Database Data restored...  : 

last updated article - 2015-11-02 12:17:36: 

html db last update  - 2015-11-02 12:17:36 : 


ex  - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Share this article now:

Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21