Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The Montreal Impact will continue their search for a first win in league play this season when the club travels to BBVA Compass Stadium to face the Houston Dynamo in an interconference battle.
Through three league games this season, the Impact have yet to taste victory as the club lost its opener to D.C. United and followed that performance with draws against the New England Revolution and Orlando City.
Despite that lack of success in the league, the Impact have had tremendous success in the CONCACAF Champions League, as the club is headed to the final of the competition after knocking off Costa Rican side Alajuelense on away goals over two legs.
Montreal took the first leg of the semifinal round with a 2-0 win at Olympic Stadium, but the return leg in Costa Rica proved to be quite a challenge.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 42nd minute when Victor Cabrera used a give-and-go to play Dominic Oduro in behind his defender. The Ghanaian played a perfect low cross towards the penalty spot where Jack McInerney came charging in, placing his low shot past the keeper.
Alajuelense equalized in the 47th minute off a free kick from Pablo Gabas, who then doubled his tally on the hour mark when he stretched out his leg to convert a corner kick from in close.
Andres Romero made it 2-2 in the 72nd minute, while Jonathan McDonald and Allen Guevara completed the scoring for the home side, but it wasn't enough as the Impact became just the second-ever MLS team reach the final.
The Canadian club will face La Liga side America in the final.
"We knew we were coming to a difficult place to play with a tough team," said Impact head coach Frank Klopas. "They have a tremendous push with the quality of players they have and their fans. We scored an away goal, which was very important. The quick goal in the second half brought them back into the game. It was a great semifinal and a great moment for our club, the city of Montreal and Major League Soccer."
Houston, meanwhile, is coming off a 1-0 loss to Seattle Sounders FC last time out.
The Dynamo fell behind five minutes before halftime when Obafemi Martins collected a through ball from Clint Dempsey, beat his mark with a nifty turn and slotted a shot past Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric.
"We kept trying to chip balls in the middle when they have 10 guys standing on their 18 and that's hard to do," Dynamo captain Brad Davis said. "We need to be able to figure these things out to figure out what's working and what's not working, so our decision-making just needs to be better. There were times when we went up a man that we kept trying to do things that weren't working."
"Those were three points that slipped out of our hands," Dynamo forward Giles Barnes said. "We need to be more creative in the attacking third, we need to push forward more and take some chances. The game's about who scores more goals at the end of the day, and we were lacking in that area. That's three points disappeared because of a lack of concentration."
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.