The Montreal Impact were in a do or die situation on Decision Day, they needed a win vs DC United on the road or risk missing the playoffs once again.
A crazy first half :
It didn't take long for us to see fireworks as in the very first minute Gelmin Rivas would go in on Clement Diop and they would collide, both players would stay down for several minutes and Rivas would eventually be subbed out for Ola Kamara while Diop would stay in the game.
DC would get their first on target in the sixth minute when Julian Gressel got a good shot off but Diop was there to make the save. A minute later he would deny Yamil Asad who would follow it up with another big shot but Diop once again standing tall in net.
Two minutes later off a corner the Impact would surrender another goal off a set-piece when Donovan Pines would head the ball in for the first goal of the game and DC would take the early lead. Montreal finally woke up in the 11th minute with two big chances on target but DC keeper Bill Hamid was making save after save to keep the lead.
He would make a great punch save two minutes later off a corner from Amar Sejdic and Montreal was starting to play with more urgency. They finally would tie the game on the ensuing play when Bojan would receive a pass across the goal and would tap it in to tie the game at one.
Three minutes the Impact went looking for the lead and they almost had it when Romell Quioto would get a great header on target but Hamid would make the save. DC would respond in the 21st minute when Gressel once would get a chance at goal but Diop would make a great sliding save.
Montreal got a scare on the play when Quioto seemed to have injured his hip but was able to stay in the game. DC United would take the lead in the 33rd minute when Kamara once again off another set-piece would head in another goal to make it 2-1 for DC United.
The Impact was once again trailing and their playoff hopes seemed to disappear. They had a great chance to tie the game in the 44th minute when Quioto had another chance but it would go off the bar. Eight minutes were added to the first half and in the 49th minute Anthony Jackson Hamel would follow it up with another shot but Hamid was there to make the save.
The first half would finish with DC United up 2-1 and the Impact was 45 minutes away from once again missing the playoffs.
The Impact gets the job done :
Montreal went into the second half needing to at least tie the game to keep their chances alive. DC got the first chance of the half in the 51st minute when Gressel would get a great shot on target but Diop made another amazing save.
He would follow it up by making another save this time on Edison Flores. Montreal would eventually tie the game once again in the 74th minute when Victor Wanyama would give DC a piece of their own medicine heading a ball past Hamid off a Montreal corner to make it 2-2.
Five minutes later Mustafa Kizza who was making his Montreal Impact debut would be able to get a long shot on goal, but Hamid easily grabbed it. The Impact finally took the lead in the 88th minute when Quioto would get a great pass across from Kizza and would put it into the back of the net to take a 3-2 lead.
Things took a turn for the worse for Montreal in the 92nd minute when Samuel Piette was shown a red card for going studs up thus meaning he would miss the playoff game. Diop would make one more save a minute later and the whistle blew to confirm Montreal win and a spot in the playoffs.
" We wanted to be in the playoffs, I'm very happy for the club, I'm very happy for the players and we are going to have to deal with a team that is very difficult to deal with"
-Thierry Henry
"It's been very difficult days, I don't know if people realize what we did the last two month and I know that it only matters what you do on the field but I think this team deserves to win, deserves to be in the playoffs, we showed it today, this team is strong physically, mentally, emotionally so that's why we won today", Bojan said.
The Montreal Impact will now face the New England Revolution on November 20th in a one-game playoff winner take all.