Trying to stay positive despite the odds

It might be a leap of faith to suggest the Impact has no pressure at this stage of the MLS Is Back tournament.

But the club certainly has nothing to lose, as Samuel Piette stated on Sunday, other than the obvious — a third successive game.

“We’ll go all-in, that’s for sure. We know there’s no other result that can get us through besides a win,” the Repentigny native said during a video conference call. “If we have to win by two or three goals, I’ll leave that to the coaching staff to do the mathematics.”

The Impact’s preparing for its final group stage game of the competition at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex on Tuesday (10:30 p.m.) against D.C. United.

Following losses against New England (1-0) and Toronto FC (43), Montreal is one of six teams winless in two games. United has two draws in the tournament.

The Impact won’t be one of the Top 2 clubs in Group C, but can still qualify for the knockout round as one of the four best third-place teams, although the odds remain daunting.

Montreal must defeat D.C. while scoring as many goals as possible, since goal differential breaks ties, not head-to-head matchups. With a goal differential of minus-2, the Impact would probably hope for a three-goal victory on Tuesday.

Heading into play Sunday night, 10 of the competing 24 clubs had two points or less. The Impact clearly requires some help to advance and, at this point, can only hope the game has some relevance by the time it hits the pitch.

“The only thing I can do right now is be positive,” manager Thierry Henry said Sunday. “Against Toronto, we played exactly how we wanted to play. We were on the ball, we created. Some of our opportunities were brilliant.

“We have to be positive, go forward, believe in what we’re trying to do and trust the process. Now we have to be better in that process, dealing with the counter better. We want to be a team that’s going to possess the ball and put pressure when we lose it.”

If the Impact was guilty of a lack of spirit against the Revolution, it certainly came to play against the Reds, only to repeatedly be victimized by defensive breakdowns. Seconds after drawing at 2-2, Montreal allowed a go-ahead score from the ensuing kickoff.

It’s no secret the Impact probably was at a competitive disadvantage entering the tournament. While all clubs didn’t play for four months because of the coronavirus pandemic, Montreal was one of the last to receive permission from health authorities to resume full-team training.

Since arriving in Reunion, Fla., the breaks, arguably, haven’t gone Montreal’s way. While Toronto’s Ayo Akinola scored three goals against the Impact, he also could have been called for a foul before the winning score. He appeared to put his shoulder into defender Jukka Raitala, creating an opening.

“We know we were late in terms of training. I’m not looking for excuses, but that’s a fact,” Henry said. “I’ve never come across anything like that in my life.”