“He whistled for a penalty and then he was influenced by the fourth official who said he didn't think it was,” Schallibaum said following the game. “For me it's a scandal because a decision was made and then all of a sudden it's not a penalty. It was something that changed the game even though we did not play a strong first half and we were unlucky on the penalty to Hassoun.”

The fat lady hasn't sung yet but the Montreal Impact might be hearing someone practising scales backstage after dropping a 3-0 decision to the San Jose Earthquakes in CONCACAF Group 5 play in front of a sparse crowd at Buck Shaw Stadium.

“There wasn’t a lot missing today,” he continued. “A centimetre’s difference here or there and things might have been different but the game's like that. Even though we came away empty-handed today we are still on track to achieve the objectives we set at the beginning of the season.”

So, to apply after three years, you can not leave the country for a single day (save for a leap year) as three x 365 days = 1,095 days. Did any of these players go home for a single day? Go on road trips or training camps to the United States? Of course they did. So they’d need to wait till they hit 1,095 days in a four-year period.

Yes, he scored two goals, but that probably wasn’t his biggest contribution. Before the game was five minutes old, he was brought down in the box by Revs’ keeper Matt Reis. The goalkeeper was sent off, New England was down to 10 men, Patrice Bernier converted the first of two penalties, and the Impact was off to the races.

New England starting 'keeper Matt Reis was given a straight red for his tackle on Marco Di Vaio, in alone after being declared offside on two occasions earlier. After Bobby Shuttleworth replaced Reis and midfielder Chad Barrett had his night terminated, Patrice Bernier stepped up to the spot and, using the hesitant approach to the ball that has yet to fail him in MLS, slowly rolled the ball inside the left post after Shuttleworth had committed the other way.

"The last five road games we’ve given up goals, so we wanted to come back and secure (the) back line," said Biello, who once played for the Impact. "Give credit to the players. They held their shape.

For the consipracy theorists out there who think that MLS has it in for Impact coach Marco Schallibaum, Friday’s news will add fuel to the fire.

“We saw fresh legs tonight, good movement and, in the end, it was a big victory for us,” Biello said after the match. “I think we played well defensively. We were very compact and were able to counter-attack several times. We saw a little of everything."

This time, ,ot only did Schallibaum get an extra game, he received a $5,000 fine. Now, remember that in MLS, fines are usually measured in the hundreds of dollars. By MLS standards, a $5,000 penalty is a whopper.