What we learned from the Montreal Impact’s 3-1 aggregate win over New York Red Bulls

The Montreal Impact have become the first Canadian team to ever make the final four in MLS, defeating the New York Red Bulls, 3-1, on aggregate to advance to the MLS Eastern Conference finals. Ignacio Piatti was the big star on the day just as he was in the first leg, scoring two goals as the Impact prevailed, 2-1, on the night.

The Red Bulls had a chance to take the lead in the 20th minute when they won a penalty. Defender Victor Cabrera had a terrible turnover that Gonzalo Veron picked up, putting goalkeeper Evan Bush in a bad spot. He dove for the ball, took down Veron, and the referee pointed to the spot. Bush then more than made up for his mistake, saving Sacha Kljestan’s spot kick.

Four minutes later, Kljestan was given a bloody nose by Marco Donadel and had to leave the pitch for treatment. It took the training staff longer than usual to stop the bleeding, leaving Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch with a difficult dilemma. Ultimately, he stayed patient and Kljestan returned to the match after the Red Bulls played for 10 minutes with 10 men, robbing them of valuable time to push to get a goal back.

The Red Bulls had to open up in the second half while down a goal, and they were eventually carved up by Piatti. After he skinned Chris Duvall, the entire Red Bulls defense and Luis Robles thought he was going to cross, but he went direct for goal instead and scored, giving the Impact a vital away goal.

The Red Bulls fought back, with Bradley Wright-Phillips scoring off a Daniel Royer square ball in the 77th minute, but they never got any closer. Didier Drogba came on as a late substitute and made a huge impact, finding Piatti for an easy finish from 12 yards in the 85th minute to seal the result for Montreal.

Goals: Bradley Wright-Philips (77’)

Goals: Piatti (51’, 85’)

Sacha Kljestan had a really bad day -- What’s worse than an MVP favorite losing on their home field to get knocked out of the playoffs? That plus a missed penalty, a bloody nose, a long delay, and having to play while only breathing out of their mouth. It really couldn’t have gone worse for Kljestan on Sunday.

Ignacio Piatti is the great equalizer -- It’s been a very up-and-down season for the Impact, with a lot of questions popping up about their defense and their older players. They still haven’t put it all together -- on the balance of play, the Red Bulls were the better side for 180 minutes in this tie -- but Piatti was the best player on the pitch for either team by a mile. Even when the Impact struggled to hold the ball and create chances, Piatti found ways to create scoring opportunities for himself. A team with a player of his quality is never out of any game.

Didier Drogba’s Impact career isn’t over yet -- When Drogba refused to be named to the substitutes’ bench at the end of the regular season, most assumed his career with the Impact was over. The legitimacy of the injury that kept him out of the last two games was unfairly questioned. But Drogba came on for 10 minutes in this game and set up the dagger goal, proving that he still has something left to offer. Now he has two weeks to get fit, and he might be a huge factor in the Eastern Conference finals.