MONTREAL—The Philadelphia Union took everything the Montreal Impact’s potent offense could throw at them through the first 10 minutes at Stade Saputo on Saturday.
And despite allowing a goal to Didier Drogba less than three minutes in, Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake came up with a couple of monster saves against Montreal's superstar striker and the Union recovered to earn a 1-1 draw.
Afterwards, Philadelphia head coach Jim Curtin said Blake is the kind of goalkeeper who “makes a coach sleep well at night.”
"Yes, he makes the incredible save, the diving save to bail us out in the big spots," Curtin said. “But the amount of times when there's a cross that looks like trouble and he comes out with those long arms and just kind of takes it out of the air – it makes the center backs’ job easier. They can focus on Drogba instead of worrying about the ball, because that causes mistakes.
“When you go and attack the ball, there’s collisions, there's different things, so Andre's a nice warm blanket back there who does a good job for us. He not only saves what he's supposed to save, he also makes the exceptional save that gets you points.”
Blake, who finished with five saves, grabbed a Drogba header off a centering pass from Impact defender Maxim Tissot in the 40th minute. Earlier, he leaped to push a free kick targeted for the top of the net by Drogba just over the crossbar, with the ball landing on top of the net.
“Well I know he's a great player and he's got a great shot,” Blake said of Drogba. “So whenever I see him on the ball I just try to be in the best position as possible to be able to make the save. Thankfully, I was in those spots today.”
By that point, the Union had recovered to level the game between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference at 1-1 on a goal by C.J. Sapong in the 24th minute, before eventually escaping Canada with a hard-earned point.
"Your typical battle for the top of the conference," Curtin said. "I thought they had the better of the play in the first half. I thought we pushed the game in the second half. We probably had the better of the chances in the second half, so I think overall a point is a fair result.
"It's a very good team, Montreal. Well-coached, well-organized, a dynamic front four that gives you a lot of problems. It gets scary when the game gets stretched and they have those guys running at you full speed. I thought we dealt with it for the most part well on the day."
