COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Montreal Impact won’t get a chance to write another chapter to their remarkable MLS season.
Columbus Crew SC took care of that Sunday, knocking the Impact out of the playoffs after a roller-coaster 3-1 win in extra time that made for a 4-3 aggregate victory and a trip to the Eastern Conference final against the New York Red Bulls.
The Impact go home, wondering what might have been.
“This group had something, we believed that we could go a little bit further. And it’s done,” said Montreal captain Patrice Bernier, disappointment etched on his face. “Congrats to Columbus.”
Talismanic striker Didier Drogba did not speak to the media, other than to briefly express his own disappointment in French.
“It’s tough. There’s a lot of unhappy players in that dressing room,” said interim Montreal coach Mauro Biello.
“It was unfortunate the way things happened tonight but we showed a lot of fight, a lot of character,” he added. “I think that’s something important going forward.”
Star striker Kei Kamara, restricted to one shot on goal in Montreal’s 2-1 win in the opening leg at Saputo Stadium, scored headed goals early and late to cap the Columbus comeback before 19,026 at Mapfre Stadium.
Ethan Finlay also scored for Crew SC while Dilly Duka replied for Montreal, which was unable to make good on the advantage gained in the first leg. The Impact paid for a poor start to the rematch and an inability to take their chances despite outshooting Columbus 23-21 (11-9 in shots on target).
READ MORE: Impact hold advantage over Crew after opening leg of Eastern semifinal
And they were unable to control Kamara.
The Sierra Leone international could have had four goals on the night, hitting the crossbar in the first half with yet another header and failing to convert a second-half penalty kick.
But his 111th-minute goal proved to be the dagger.
Substitute Cedrick Mabwati, a five-foot-six Congolese winger, delivered a fine cross from the left edge of the penalty box to the far post that the six-foot-three Kamara – who is phenomenal in the air – rose majestically to get.
Montreal ‘keeper Evan Bush, who had stopped Kamara’s penalty and deserved a better fate, could not get a hand to the ball as it looped over him.
It was Kamara’s 11th headed goal this season.
His first goal came four minutes into the game, throwing Columbus an early lifeline.
Playmaker Federico Higuain set it up with a beautiful sweeping ball to find a charging Waylon Francis down the left flank. Kamara, who had been quiet in the first leg after a 22-goal regular season, beat Laurent Ciman to the ball at the near post and headed it down past Bush.
The goal resulted from a Marco Donadel giveaway with Duka failing to stop the cross at the byline.
After a stumbling start, Montreal began to find its feet late in the first half.
A 29th-minute shot from Ignacio Piatti went high. Piatti ripped another shot just wide in the 39th minute and Donadel forced a good save from Steve Clark seconds later as the Impact finally showed signs of life.
Duka, a former Columbus player, scored on a goalmouth scramble in the 40th minute from Donadel’s ensuing corner. Montreal’s Ciman and Victor Cabrera both had cracks at the ball, which eventually fell to Duka as Columbus failed to clear. Crew SC fans were hoping for an offside call on the play.
The goal restored Montreal’s aggregate advantage, at 3-2. Combined with some stubborn defending, it look like the visitors would hang on for the win.
But Finlay tapped home a rebound in the 78th minute to force the extra time after Bush had made a spectacular one-handed save to stop substitute Jack McInerney, a former Impact player.
Both teams had chances in a tense overtime, with players from both teams feeling the effects of an extended shift.
“It was a tough series. Montreal’s a good team,” said Gregg Berhalter, Columbus’ head coach and sporting director. “We had to dig deep on this one but it certainly feels good.”
It was a sudden end to a Montreal season that took a long time to reach a boil.
The Impact were easy pickings early on. But they arrived in Columbus on a 9-2-2 roll since Sept. 5 with former Chelsea star Drogba leading the attack and Biello taking over as interim head coach.
Montreal had finished runner-up earlier in the CONCACAF Champions League earlier in the year but was struggling with an 8-11-4 record in late August when the club replaced head coach Frank Klopas with Biello.
The 37-year-old Drogba went on to score 11 goals in 11 regular-season games, adding two more in the playoffs.
He had a quiet night Sunday, requiring treatment twice in the first half alone as he went up and down like a jack-in-the-box. He did try an audacious backheel in the 57th minute.
“You have to applaud his effort … All I can say is good things about what he brought to this team,” said Biello.
The home fans offered their ironic take on the famous Drogba Legend banner back in Montreal, hanging a lookalike sign that read Drogba Leglock. Drogba was yellow-carded in the first game for grabbing Clark’s leg after a run-in in the penalty box.
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