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Analyst, TSN Radio 690 Montreal

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This time last year, the Montreal Impact were going through their final paces prior to travelling to the second leg of the Eastern Conference semi-final against the Columbus Crew, nursing a slender one-goal advantage from the first leg.

We all know that narrative ended in the heartbreak of a late extra-time goal by Impact tormentor Kei Kamara, who went on to lead the Crew to the MLS Cup.

Fast forward to today and the Impact find themselves in that exact same position, packing their bags for Harrison, N.J., with that same slender one-goal advantage.

The difference this time is the Impact have the experience and lessons learned from last season to lean on going into Sunday afternoon’s second leg against the Red Bulls, the top seed in the east.

Earlier in the week, Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush told TSN690 that the team has already used those lessons during this postseason.

“I think last year what we learned is that we were very emotional after the first game against Toronto at home which we won at home 3-0, which was hard not to be. It’s your rival and you beat them in the playoffs, and there was a lot of things surrounding that for sure,” Bush said.

“I think with last year what happened after the Toronto game we dwelled on it for a day or two and we weren’t necessarily prepared mentally and emotionally the same way we should have been. We gave up an early goal to Columbus last year…we were down 1-0 at home. Then we ultimately won the game 2-1 but that away goal ended up hurting us when we went to Columbus the following week.”

In what was an unprecedented opening leg in this season’s four conference semi-finals, the Impact and the three other lower seeds pulled off highly improbable and extremely valuable shutout wins at home. The Impact were full value for their 1-0 victory at Stade Saputo, with yet another playoff goal from forward Matteo Mancosu.

Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch will be fully aware his team can’t get suckered into committing too many players forward in search of that equalizer early on Sunday, risking the possibility his team will concede and will need at least three goals to move on.  

Not leaving anything to chance, the Impact will charter to New Jersey after training Saturday afternoon. No one at the club will need reminding what happened when the two teams met at Red Bull Arena back on Aug. 13. The Impact’s scheduled flight out on Aug. 12 was delayed to the point the team went home, only to have to take their flight early the morning of the match. The Impact were comprehensively beaten 3-1, with Ambroise Oyongo sent off very early in the second half.

The Impact only won four matches on the road this season, but that doesn’t come close to telling the real story of their away form through 2016. Counting their 4-0 destruction of D.C. United at RFK Stadium 10 days ago, the Impact have managed to get a positive outcome in two thirds of their road matches. A draw will be enough Sunday afternoon.

Just a month or so ago, when the Impact were facing the real possibility of not even making the playoffs, no one could have imagined that they would now be 90 minutes away from becoming the first Canadian club to make it to an MLS Conference Final.

They’ve done it without striker Didier Drogba, who last played for his team all the way back on Sept. 28, when the Chelsea legend came off the bench in the 70th minute for Mancosu in a 3-1 victory at Stade Saputo against the San Jose Earthquakes.

I do not for one moment buy into the argument Drogba’s stock has fallen so much this season that he is now no longer good enough to make the Impact starting eleven. It’s much more a case Mancosu has been exemplary since manager Mauro Biello first inserted the Bologna man into his starting lineup in that late September match against the Earthquakes. Prior to that, the Impact had been on a four-match winless streak, losing three of those matches.

Drogba carried his team on his back in 2015. It was well established going into this season that for the Impact to best guarantee yet another seat at the MLS playoff table there had to be a less reliance on Drogba to score the goals. How quickly people seem to forget the so-termed Drogba Effect. Not only has Drogba made his team infinitely better on the pitch, he’s also the player who finally made the Impact relevant in Montreal.

Finally back to full training on Tuesday, Drogba did not join his teammates at training Friday morning for precautionary measures. The expectation is a return to training Saturday and a seat on the bench for Sunday.

Then, if needed, Drogba can be the man of the hour. No other footballer in this modern era has been so influential in securing silverware for his club by scoring crucial goals in the biggest of moments. It’s almost as if Drogba merely exists for the big occasion. Sunday afternoon is the biggest moment in the Impact’s season so far.

Having first attended Red Bull Arena back in 2010, it truly is a jewel in MLS’s stadium crown. It will host the largest ever gathering of Impact supporters assembled south of the border on Sunday. The club’s two biggest supporter groups — Ultras Montreal and 1642 MTL — have organized bus trips to the match.

With midfielder Hernan Bernardello back on the training pitch Friday, Biello is expected to field an unchanged lineup for a third playoff match in a row Sunday afternoon. Forget Drogba as the X-Factor. That accolade falls on club captain Patrice Bernier.

Bernier is undoubtedly playing his most majestic football of the season. Sunday I expect Bernier to be at full speed, the wise football owl fully aware that due to the International break he will have well over two weeks to rest and recuperate any weary legs for the conference final if the Impact meet expectations.

Then, if things go well for Toronto FC over the other side of the Hudson Sunday evening, the Eastern Conference final could very well be contested by two Canadian clubs. Who could ever have imagined that back in late January when both clubs broke training camp?

Watch New York Red Bulls versus Montreal Impact live on TSN5 and listen on TSN 690. Kick Off Sunday at 4pm et/1pm pt.