MONTREAL – Jack McInerney looked at the reporters surrounding him. He shrugged. His smile was mischievious.
“It was kind of spur-of-the-moment,” McInerney said.
For one mere second, McInerney put his finger to his lips after scoring against FC Dallas on Saturday. Was he silencing his detractors? Was it a fleeting message to the coaching staff? Replays were needed to catch it, to be fair to Montreal head coach Frank Klopas, who was asked to comment on the celebration after the game.
“Listen, if he keeps scoring, he can go like this all the time,” Klopas said. “No problem.”
McInerney’s second of the season was the crucial goal in a 2-1 win over FCD at Stade Saputo. The Impact, Klopas said, were the best team “for 75 minutes.” For the last 15, Montreal scratched and clawed, needing goalkeeper Evan Bush to pull off a few miraculous saves – one of which earned him a thankful hug from McInerney.
Earlier this week, McInerney had talked the talk. On Saturday, he walked the walk.
Montreal’s No. 99, excellent on the night, received deserved praise from his coach after the game: for his week of practice, first, but mostly for his overall performance against FC Dallas.
“The thing that I was happy [about], besides the goal, as a forward, is that he worked extremely hard off the ball,” Klopas said. “That’s the one thing that he’s got to continue to do, especially in games when you’re not going to get many opportunities to score goals, but he’s got to be a positive guy for the team in many ways. Today, he was very positive.”
McInerney’s goal was an example of the movement that Klopas wants from his front four. Dropping deep, McInerney followed Dilly Duka’s run with the ball on the left, pouncing on the sphere as Duka broke past Dallas defender Walker Zimmerman. The give-and-go that followed with playmaker Ignacio "Nacho" Piatti worked to perfection to set up McInerney’s finish which was “an easy pass into the corner,” as he described it.
“What makes it better was that it was with Nacho,” McInerney said. “We connected, and that’s what your attacking mid forward has got to do if we want to score goals. It feels good.”
It hasn’t always been this way. The chemistry between Piatti and McInerney has only been developing recently – they only played 136 minutes together before this season.
But on Saturday, it was there for the world to see. Far from reducing Stade Saputo to silence, it brought the crowd to their feet.
“The truth is that here [in the locker room], we all get along well,” Piatti said. “This is a good group. We showed it in the CONCACAF Champions League, reaching the final. Things have been good for Jack. We’ve created a goal today, and hopefully, it goes on like this.”
Olivier Tremblay covers the Montreal Impact for MLSsoccer.com.
