“I come to MLS to stay in MLS, not to go back to Europe because I think MLS is going to be amazing and in a few years it will be a top league,” Lopez Rodriguez said. “I’m looking forward to staying here and to belong to that period to become one of the best leagues in the world.”

“When you dominate the whole match the way we did and you don’t win it hurts a bit,” he admitted. “But our level of performance was very high tonight Justin and Sanna were on fire all game and I think both wingers are pretty tired tonight because they were going for the goal all game long."

On the short end of a 2-0 score by the quarter-hour mark, Montreal were let down by its defence and dominated, as is his custom, by Thierry Henry. The French forward’s goal and pair of helpers ran his lifetime record against the Impact in MLS play to seven goals and three assists in four matches.

“We’re going through a bit of a tough phase at the moment. There’s a lot of physical fatigue and a bit of mental fatigue as well. It’s a long season and you have to expect some periods like the one we’re going through but we have to stay the course and play through them,” said Camara.

“You get punished in this league for a mistake and we certainly did,” Brovsky declared. “It’s not one guy on the team, it’s the collective 11. We lost it ourselves. We beat ourselves. It’s something we can learn from and we’re not going to do it again.”

Coach Marco Schallibaum commented on his team’s performance in very positive terms after the match saying, “We came out like a fireworks display, especially in the first half. We could have had, four, five, or six goals but we didn’t get them and for that we have to congratulate Houston for that."

“We didn’t get too much history on Canada growing up in Mississippi but I’ve enjoyed my time here so far and I’m trying to learn as much about it as I can,” he said after practice last week. “It was pretty cool playing in the Canadian Championship and seeing how passionate all the fans are. Our fans especially, and in Toronto and Vancouver as well. They’re very passionate about the Cup.”

“If we have decent results and we can build on that and we have another tournament next year, we’ll have this precedent to base future teams on. We really hope this is not a one-shot deal. We really hope that this can happen again,” Leduc said.

In a match that featured the eruption of Mount Schallibaum, the expulsion of Alessandro Nesta and a controversial officiating decision that led to a Kansas City goal, the Montreal Impact did what its done since the beginning of the season. The team found a way to win, its 2-1 victory placing it atop the MLS Eastern Conference ladder.

“We showed a will to win, to play through difficult circumstances. This is a team that is willing to run for each other and to run for the team. We played well in the cold with 17,000 fans here to support us. We’re certainly on the right track,” declared head coach Marco Schallibaum in his post-game comments.