There is never a dull moment in Major League Soccer and this game proved no different. With barely any time left on the clock, substitute Will Bruin powered the ball in to give Seattle Sounders FC a draw against the hosts, the Montreal Impact.
Bruin's impact was so late in the game that with over ten minutes to go, most neutrals watching the match may have thought that Montreal would come away with all three points, but somehow, the Sounders clawed their way back and picked up a 2-2 draw at the Montreal Olympic Stadium.
Piatti runs the show for most of the match
For most of the game it was Montreal's No. 10, Ignacio Piatti, that was the star man. The midfielder was not only linking up well with Matteo Mancosu and Dominic Oduro, but he was also controlling the temp of the game and finding spaces all over the left flank and the middle of the field to create chances for his teammates. Montreal for the most part, were looking to stay compact in a 4-5-1 formation when the Sounders had the ball, then switch to a 4-3-3 once they got possession with Hernán Bernardello and Patrice Bernier alternating in making late runs into the box.
That particular tactic paved the way for Montreal's first goal in the 17th minute as Bernier found Piatti in space, who then in turn played a good ball over the top for Mancosu to chase onto. Mancosu had the pace to get by Chad Marshall and he rounded Stefan Frei to give the Impact the lead. Piatti had been playing that ball for most of the first half and on this occasion, no Sounders defender was able to get to the ball before Mancosu and prevent him from opening the scoring.
Piatti then got Montreal's second in the 51st minute as he picked up the ball, glided by Roldan in midfield and began to bear down on goal with Torres and Marshall ahead of him. Mancosu used his run to remove some attention off Piatti and the midfielder took full advantage of that by slotting his shot between the two defenders and past Frei's diving effort to stop the ball.
Seattle produce a late showing to ensure a point away from home
The Impact may have had a 2-0 lead going into the 80th minute of the game but that does not mean the Sounders did not have their chances to score as well. In the first half, Jordan Morris was guilty of missing three very good chances to open the scoring for Seattle and Harry Shipp also had a chance in the second half to pull one back for Seattle. Clint Dempsey thought he had gotten one back for the Sounders late in the second half but his goal was called back after a poor handball call on Morris by referee Jair Marrufo. It was left to the Seattle substitutes to make the difference on the night.
In the 83rd minute, Oniel Fisher who had come on for Gustav Svensson at right back, surged forward after combining with another substitute, Henry Wingo. The right back was then tripped up in the box by Laurent Ciman and Nicolás Lodeiro had the chance to score the first goal of the evening for the Sounders from the penalty spot. Lodeiro, who had a quiet game by his standards up until this point, made no mistake with his penalty kick and sent goalkeeper Evan Bush the wrong way to give the Sounders a way back into the match.
Then, with barely any time left in stoppage time, Will Bruin did exactly what he was brought on to do after coming in for defender Román Torres. Cristian Roldan sent in a great cross into the box that Morris won in the air. The ball ended up at Bruin's feet and the striker punched it home from close range to give the Sounders a late, late equalizer.
Both teams now have one point after two matches with the Sounders leaving Montreal knowing that even though they did not play well for most of the match, they still found a way to pick up a point. The Impact will look back at this game as two points dropped after being in control for so much of the game, only to throw it all away in a space of ten minutes.