Porter sends Montreal Impact to CONCACAF Champions League semis
A brilliant injury time goal by Montreal Impact rookie Cameron Porter gave his team a 1-1 draw and an aggregate victory over Mexican side Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal second leg on Tuesday night.
Porter, an 85th minute substitution, brought down a searching 50-yard diagonal ball from Calum Mallace and, in full stride, fought off a Pachuca defender and slid home his first professional goal.
It was a storybook ending to a match played at a high tempo from the opening whistle, as Montreal and Pachuca took turns stretching the game.
The Mexicans had the first real opportunity at goal at the 15 minute mark, when a streaking Hirving Lozano received the ball down the left wing and charged toward the Montreal goal. He unleashed a low drive from the top of the penalty area, but couldn't find the inside of the post, instead watching the ball go inches wide.
Outside of another Lozano run moments before the halftime break, Pachuca didn't look particularly threatening in the first half as the Impact's plan to contain the Mexican side was effective.
The majority of the opening 45 minutes ended up looking more like a track meet than a soccer game, as Montreal looked to quickly counter and stretch the game on the artificial turf at Olympic Stadium. While there were plenty of instances of back-and-forth play, there was precious little in the way of actual chances at goal for the Impact throughout the first half.
The home side's first good look at goal didn't come until the 63rd minute, after Nigel Reo-Coker's run down the heart of Pachuca territory freed up Ignacio Piatti on the left side. The Argentine rounded a couple of defenders inside the penalty area and, from a tight angle, forced Pachuca goalkeeper Oscar Perez into a point-blank save to keep the game scoreless.
Not to be outdone, Bush was called upon to make a point-blank stop of his own in the 71st minute when Lozano's cross into the Montreal six-yard box was met by an onrushing German Cano. The Pachuca striker had what looked to be the easiest of tap-ins, but a sprawling Bush made a reaction save on the goal line and drew an appreciative roar from the 38,104 on hand.
Cano would get his goal, however. Impact defender Laurent Ciman was adjudged by the referee to have committed a foul in the Impact penalty area after tussling with the striker, and Cano calmly slotted home the ensuing penalty kick to put the visiting team up 1-0 with just 10 minutes remaining.
That set up a frenzied finish with Montreal desperate to level the score and Pachuca hoping to catch the Impact on the counterattack. It would ultimately be the dramatic goal from Porter in stoppage time that sent Olympic Stadium into raptures and put Montreal through to the semifinal round.
The Impact will face the winner of the D.C. United-Alajuelense quarterfinal series, with the first leg of the semifinal slated to kick off in two weeks.
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