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 were second best the first 20 minutes,” said captain Patrice Bernier. “We played with fire. It’s uncharacteristic of our team. Normally, we’re very hard to play against and today, we seemed to be spread out and not be the same team from the last few games.”

“I think Andy got picked,” Knighton said. “Camara is going to make that 99 per cent of the time – it’s unfortunate, because without the block Andy had 20 seconds before that, sprinting 40 yards and sliding in and knocking it out for a corner – it was fantastic.

“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.

“I feel like on the road we’ve been a little bit too open. At times we’ve played quite well but our results haven’t been as good as I would have liked on the road so I felt we should become more difficult to play against,” Rennie opined. “I think the players did their jobs tonight. They made the game more compact and we weren’t as open and easy to play against.”

“That’s a reason I like this team, they never give up,” said head coach Marco Schallibaum. “Today we played against a really good team and with our program the last two weeks (six games in 18 days) it’s amazing what they did on the field and their will to do well. They can play good football or they can play good football and also have lots of character. They showed that again today.”

Two of the three goals came in added time — one in the first half and another in the second — with Thierry Henry notching both the home side’s tallies while Marco Di Vaio got one (and very nearly two) back for the visitors.

The Goonies were good enough this afternoon. The San Jose Earthquakes erased a two-goal deficit to draw the visiting Montreal Impact in a 2-2 match played in close to 30 C heat at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Asked if the change in formation was something that would be repeated in the future, coach Schallibaum, replied, “As a coach you have to be flexible and able to put something fresh into the game. Today it worked well with everyone playing well together. Paponi did well, for his first time, getting a goal."

Completely dominated in the opening half, Montreal gave up the first goal only five minutes after play got underway.