Montreal Impact player ratings vs Seattle Sounders
by Anna Ferkingstad

Montreal defeated Seattle Saturday evening after the rave green and white side conceded a late goal for the third straight match in a row. The Impact du Montreal dominated possession for the duration of the game at 61% and held 13 shots to the Seattle Sounders’ three. The 1-0 victory resulted from a free kick taken by Marco Donadel in the 89th minute. The foul was conceded by Ozzy Alonso just outside the left corner of the 18 yard box.

The win leaves Montreal tied for 6th place in the Eastern Conference while Seattle sits tied for fifth in the West. Standout performances from the winning home side include center defender Laurent Ciman who scored Montreal’s lone goal, as well as Dominic Oduro.

Starting Eleven

Evan Bush: 7.5
With only three shots from the Sounders in the entire 90 minutes, Bush had a comfortable game in net. A notable save came in the 38th minute when he easily picked off a lofted Seattle free kick. In the second half, the most dangerous moment for Bush was when his own teammate (Donny Toia) played a potentially dangerous backpass in the 79th minute.

Donny Toia: 6
With the exception of a very sloppy and potentially very dangerous backpass to goalkeeper Bush in the 79th minute, Toia did not really do anything bad nor good in the match against the Sounders. That being said, it would not be fair to say the lackluster performance was necessarily Toia’s fault. Seattle’s right attacking players (Roldan and Rose) were just two on the long list of Seattle personnel that struggled in the match against the Impact.

Laurent Ciman: 9
Ciman was the core of Impact du Montreal’s central defense Saturday evening. Consistent throughout the 90 minutes, Ciman was not only strong on tackles in the backline but also demonstrated an ability to find the attacking midfielders on transition. He scored Montreal’s goal in the 89th minute with a header off of a controversial free kick (that he had won himself only moments prior with a tackle from Seattle’s Ozzy Alonso).

Victor Cabrera: 7
Throughout the 90 minutes Saturday evening, Cabrera used his strength in the air to limit the threat of Seattle’s Lamar Neagle and Chad Barrett. Although Cabrera was consistent in the defensive third, he was unable to connect with the midfielders with the same vision and urgency as his central defender counterpart: Laurent Ciman.

Ambroise Oyongo: 7.5
Oyongo distinguishes himself from the rest of Montreal Impact defensive line with his speed and desire to get forward. He began to threaten Erik Friberg and Leonardo Gonzalez immediately after the opening whistle, with his first run up the right flank in the 3rd minute. Several of Oyongo’s crosses into the 18 yard box helped to contribute to Montreal’s breadth of opportunities on net in the first half.

Calum Mallace: 6.5
Of Montreal’s two central defensive midfielders (against the Sounders the Impact played a 4-2-3-1), Mallace was the quieter and less showy player. For the duration of the 90 minutes, Mallace worked to contain Seattle’s Ozzy Alonso and did not get forward with the same zeal as Donadel.

Marco Donadel: 8
A free kick from Marco Donadel was the difference maker in Saturday’s game between Seattle and Montreal. In addition to the assist on Ciman’s header goal, Donadel worked with Ignacio Piatti to limit the potency of the Sounders’ central midfielders.

Dilly Duka: 6.5
With tremendous 1 v 1 abilities, Duka kept Seattle defenders Chad Marshall and Tyrone Mears on their toes prior to his substitution in the 70th minute. Despite his ball handling skills in the final third, Duka’s momentum was often limited on Saturday by his inability to connect with other attacking forwards. His most notable opportunity on goal came in the 39th minute, when he just wide of the right goal post.

Ignacio Piatti: 7
Piatti’s primary contribution to Saturday’s match at Saputo Stadium came in his ambition to take Sounders player (like Alonso and Marshall) on in 1 v 1 situations. So far this season, Piatti has been the playmaker for Montreal, sitting as a center attacking midfielder that has an ability to feed balls to his outside midfielders and the lone striker. Seattle was lucky not to fall 1-0 early in the game after a lofted shot from the Argentine just barely deflected off of the crossbar in the 23rd minute.

Andres Romero: 7
Romero’s passing combinations with Oduro and Piatti drove the Impact’s offense in the opening 30 minutes of the match against Seattle. Following halftime, however, Romero did not respond to Seattle’s increased pressure and his attacking runs were more limited. His substitution in the 78th minute made way for McInerney to enter the game.

Dominic Oduro: 8
Several of Montreal’s shots involved Oduro in the build up. The lone striker in a 4-2-3-1, Oduro not only recognized gaps in the Sounder’s defense (including lapses in communication between Seattle’s Gonzalez and Scott) but he then had the space to capitalize on them. One of the most impressive plays of the match came in the 21st minute with Oduro’s slicing run that forced a diving save from Troy Perkins in a 1 v 1 scenario.

Substitutes

Jack McInerney (for Duka, 70th minute): 6.5
McInerney supplied crosses with numerous runs down the left sideline following his substitution in the 70th minute. Unable to create any threatening chances on goal, McInerney’s efforts were refreshing to Montreal’s offensive but not game changing.

Maxim Tissot (for Romero, 78th minute): 6
Tissot entered an attacking midfield in the 78th minute that was lacking cohesion. Although Montreal held the majority of the possession in the opening half, the Sounders’ momentum increased in the later minutes of the match. Tissot was not too dangerous of a presence in the attack but he brought fresh legs to a Montreal center midfield that desperately needed it at the time.  

Patrice Bernier (for Mallace, 88th minute): N/A