MONTREAL – Considering their best defender Laurent Ciman was sent off and a former teammate hit a goalpost in the final second of added time, the Montreal Impact were relieved to come out with a point against the New York Red Bulls.
An emotional night that saw former Impact coach Jesse Marsch return as the Red Bulls’ bench boss saw the Impact fail to gain ground on a team they’re chasing in the MLS Eastern Conference.
Dominic Oduro scored in the 42nd minute only to see New York’s Lloyd Sam tie it early in the second half for a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night.
“We played against one of the best teams in the league and we’re a man down, under pressure, so as disappointed as everyone is, we’ll take it,” said Oduro.
“It’s better than losing at home.”
That nearly happened when Felipe Martins, who played three seasons for Montreal before he was traded to New York in the off-season, put a low free kick through the wall only to see it hit the post dead on just before referee Ted Unkel blew the final whistle.
That drama capped an emotional night before 19,213 at Saputo Stadium as the teams met in a playoff-like atmosphere.
Montreal (8-8-4), ended a two-game winning run while second place New York (9-6-6) stopped a three-game streak, but each was happy to come away with a point.
Ciman, on his 30th birthday, was seething.
He may have been lucky to escape with only a yellow card for a hand ball that erased a possible Bradley Wright-Phillips breakaway in the 14th minute.
But he looked to have played the ball first when he got a second yellow and was sent off after a tackle on Sal Zizzo in the 79th.
He will be suspended for Montreal’s home game Saturday against first place D.C. United.
The Belgian said later that he thought he wasn’t the last man back on the hand ball and disagreed with the second call.
“If the level of MLS is to grow we need the refs to grow as well,” he said.
Marsch was a popular coach in his one season in Montreal, but left due to a disagreement with management on how to build a team.
He got a warm welcome from the fans, as did former Impact players Felipe and Karl Ouimette.
“It was a little familiar and a little strange to be back,” said Marsch.
“I wasn’t too emotional. I was focused on our team. It was nice. A lot of people were very kind to me. It would have been a great story for Felipe to score in that manner at the end, but he played very well tonight.”
There was a rousing ovation for Didier Drogba when the Impact’s new signing was introduced to fans at the intermission.
Drogba is still at least a week away from playing in a game.
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