Friendly in Montreal escaped virtually unscathed
May 11, 2011 (Official Game Summary)
Despite generating scoring chances throughout the 90 minutes, the New York Red Bulls fell to the Montreal Impact, 1-0, at Saputo Stadium in front of 12,568 spectators in a friendly between the sides. Montreal, currently playing in the North American Soccer League, is Major League Soccer's next expansion team that will join the league in 2012.
Red Bulls midfielder Dwayne De Rosario nearly gave the visitors the lead in the 25th minute if it weren't for the woodwork. Forward Juan Agudelo was stripped of the ball in the Impact box and the Canadian De Rosario got to it first, poking it past goalkeeper Evan Bush and off the right upright. Ten minutes later, forward Thierry Henry flicked in a Rafa Marquez delivery, but the Frenchman was ruled offside by the linesman.
After staying relatively quiet in the attacking third for most of the first half, Montreal earned the only goal of the game in the 37th minute. Defender Philippe Billy had space by the right sideline and swung in a cross to current Montreal and former Toronto FC forward Ali Gerba, who rose above his defender and nodded it into the back of the net.
Both teams made a combined 13 changes at halftime as the Red Bulls searched for an equalizer. New York midfielder John Rooney tried his luck from outside of the penalty box and just missed the top right corner of the net in the 53rd minute. Twelve minutes later, Agudelo bodied off an Impact defender in midfield, raced towards goal and fired a blast that was parried away by a fully extended Bush. With the Red Bulls pressing, Reda Agourram almost doubled Montreal's lead with four minutes to play, forcing Sutton to block his attempt.
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