But the Eddies’ play over those 180 minutes made a lasting impression on the Gambian player, who has since moved on to the San Jose Earthquakes. So, when his twin brother, Sainey, was looking for a club, Sanna gave the Eddies a glowing review.

“He (Mallan) had his hands behind his back and the ball’s gone off the label on his jersey. That’s never a penalty. The funny thing is, I thought Drew was having a good game up to that point. But there was also six minutes of time added on. As soon as the six minutes went up, you go the feeling that something was up.”

“It's always difficult to explain after a game like this one,” declared head coach Marco Schallibaum in his post-game comments. “In short we were not strong enough. We were not able to cause the other team any difficulty. The will was there but the quality was not. We took a goal in the first half and were chasing it the rest of the game. We were not strong in the last 20 metres. We were just not good today,” he concluded.

The only goal of the match was a beauty. Garcia sent a long pas in towards the Montreal goal. Chested deftly from forward Giles Barnes to Ricardo Clark, the midfielder controlled the ball with his first touch, spun and sent an arcing shot off the inside of the left upright and into the mesh behind Troy Perkins for the first goal the Dynamo has scored against the Impact this season.

Challenging to the very end, Montreal’s last attempt came on a set play in the third of four minutes of added time. Romero’s cross sailed into the six-metre box and was met by Matteo Ferrari. The Italian central defender headed it towards the inside of the near post, picking a spot that was defended by five-foot-eight, 146-pound Rolfe rather than Johnson, a six-foot-three, 217-pounder.

“We had to do what was best for our club. We’ve played three games in eight days,” Watson said before mentioning that the lineup Schallibaum sent out came as a bit of a surprise. "We didn’t expect them to field their A-team.”

The Swiss defender, although not the only man to contribute to the loss, turned in a performance that will have fans and critics asking why local products Maxim Tissot and Karl Ouimette are not seeing more minutes.

But, the bulk of the Impact supporters in the stands when the team goes on the road Aug. 21 to face CD Heredia will likely be from a little closer to Guatemala City than to La Belle Province.

“It was a happy ending,” offered head coach Marco Schallibaum, who managed to remain on the sidelines for the entire game rather than making an early exit as he has in both games against SKC played earlier in the schedule. “When you change someone to bring on fresh legs and the guy you send on gets the goal, there’s a bit of luck involved. We deserved it because we dominated the second half and managed to defeat the team that, I think, is, at the moment, the best team in MLS.”

Sanna Nyassi will miss Saturday's game between the Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls.