The New England Revolution had the better of the play, but the Montreal Impact held on for the first 45 minutes as both teams enter the half deadlocked at zero. New England saw two great efforts on goal denied by the crossbar and the post.
Felipe Martins had the first chance of the match in the very first minute, ripping a daisycutter from outside the box that Matt Reis handled comfortably. Impact midfielder Patrice Bernier then went in the book in the seventh minute for a brutally late challenge on Benny Feilhaber that left the Revs midfielder shaken up.
The Revs took over from there. Lee Nguyen nearly opened the scoring in the 30th minute with a rip from about 25 yards that flashed just over the bar. Then, in the 36th, Chris Tierney skipped across the top of the box and tried to curl in a cross with the outside of his left foot. The ball skipped through the area and missed everybody, but it was curling so wickedly that it looked destined for the back of the net, but was denied by the far post.
Saer Sene had the last great chance of the half. Nguyen, Jerry Bengtson, and Sene were on a quick counterattack, and Nguyen played an excellent cross-field ball past Bengtson, finding Sene charging into the area. The Frenchman took the ball down with his left before opening his hips and trying to curl one past Troy Perkins. He had the keeper beat, but not the crossbar.
The preferred tactic for the Impact has appeared to be "beat the heck out of Lee Nguyen," as the Revolution midfielder has endured more than his share of rough challenges and physical encounters, most of which have not been recognized by the referee. New England has struggled to put good passing sequences together, as evidenced by their holding only 40.5% possession in the half.