April 14, 2013 - 11:06 AM
MONTREAL - Marco Di Vaio and Domenic Oduro traded goals four minutes apart in the second half as the Montreal Impact and the Columbus Crew played to a 1-1 MLS draw on Sunday afternoon.
The Impact (4-1-1) remain unbeaten at home (2-0-1), while Columbus (2-1-3) has not lost in four straight.
Di Vaio had teased fans with a goal that was called just offside 63 minutes in, but then got one that counted four minutes later. Justin Mapp's cross was mishandled by substitute Sanna Nyassi, but Di Vaio was there to drill the loose ball low inside the near post for his third of the season.
The party mood in the seats was stilled in the 72nd when Oduro pulled down a pass and neatly fired it inside the far post for his third of the year.
It was a nervy tie for Mauro Biello, who stood in as head coach while Marco Schallibaum served a one-game suspension for allegedly squirting water at an official two weeks ago in Kansas City.
He nearly got a win, but Nyassi chipped a shot just over the bar from inside the penalty area in the 90th minute.
The snowstorm that forced the match to be postponed a day kept some fans away, but 16,584 turned out to the 20,000-seat Saputo Stadium for Montreal's first outdoor home game of the season. The pitch was a little brown and perhaps a little spongy, but was free of snow in sunny 7 C weather.
The Impact, coming off a bye week, looked asleep through the first half and nearly conceded a goal as Federico Higuain was allowed to run through a wide gap and go in alone in the 39th minute. Troy Perkins made a spectacular save on the Crew captain's attempt to chip the ball.
Three minutes earlier, an alert Perkins tipped a Ben Speas blast over the bar.
Montreal's attack was out of synch and managed only weak attempts from Felipe Martins and Mapp in the opening half.
Notes: Montreal defender Matteo Ferrari sat out with a calf injury but Alessandro Nesta returned after missing two games with a groin problem. . . Former Impact defender Tyson Wahl started at left back for Columbus.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013