MONTREAL -- The Montreal Impact were pretty upbeat for a team that managed to collect just one point during their two-game homestand.
Defender Hassoun Camara's goal on a diving header in the 77th minute drew the Impact level for a 1-1 tie against D.C. United at Stade Saputo on Wednesday.
The draw came on the heels of Montreal's tough 3-0 loss to the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
"Point-wise, it was a bad homestand, obviously," Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush said. "But for us, we showed a lot of character, and in the end one point after being down 1-0 isn't the end of the world because it's a team that's chasing us so we kept them from getting three points and we both got one point so we kept our distance from them.”
Montreal fell behind 1-0 after D.C. United's Lamar Neagle scored on a penalty kick 39 minutes in. Impact coach Mauro Biello started two depth options in attack in Michael Salazar and Johan Venegas, the latter making his first appearance since July 17, and first start since July 13.
Biello replaced both in the second half, bringing on Dominic Oduro in the 61st minute for Venegas. The Costa Rican international was denied a goal by D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid's diving stop with his right arm on a header in the 55th minute prior to his departure.
Matteo Mancosu came on for Salazar in the 65th minute and put a drive just wide of the right post in stoppage time with D.C. United down a man after Kofi Opare was shown a red card for his tackle on Marco Donadel in the 89th minute.
"I think we took more initiative, but that initiative can't only come when you're down," Biello said. "That initiative has to be there all the time and that's something that we've got to continue to work on. Again, we were in total control of the game and we give away a PK. This is something that, sometimes it's not easy to take in difficult moments when you give up a soft goal, but for us it's something that we've got to get stronger at, and especially at home. And It's disappointing that we didn't come out of here with the three points, but in the end the effort was there and the team is ready to fight, and that's what's important."
Bush has seen his teammates come from behind to get results all season. It's a mindset he believes helps going forward, especially facing a tough derby matchup at Eastern Conference leaders Toronto FC Saturday (7:30 pm PT, TSN1/4/5, RDS | MLS LIVE in US).
"We've got guys that, when our backs are against the wall and there's that little extra motivation, I don't necessarily think we need that, but it's something that we show that we can go and come back in games, and going down the stretch run here, it's going to be important," Bush said. "We don't want to be down in games, but at times you are down in games, so you need to have that belief that you can get back in games. And we've come back a lot of times this year … it's good to know that we can come back if we need to."
