TWO PREMIER LEAGUE icons went head-to-head in slightly different surroundings last night as the MLS meeting between the LA Galaxy and Montreal Impact ensured Steven Gerrard and Didier Drogba crossed paths in the league for the very first time.
But, it was very much an anti-climax as the game finished scoreless.
The Ivorian has already made his presence felt since joining the Canadian side and conjured a hat-trick on his very first start against Chicago last week. But playing his first away fixture in Carson, California, he failed to muster a similar calibre performance.
Still, late on, he did have a fine chance to grab a winner but his left-foot strike drifted just wide of the far post.
After a bright start to his MLS career, Gerrard has faded somewhat in recent weeks. In eight appearances so far in the league, he’s managed one goal and three assists and his only real meaningful contribution last night was a dangerous cross whipped to the far post though Keane couldn’t quite get his subsequent effort on target.
Keane came close to scoring late in the opening period too but Evan Busch made a good close-range stop as the veteran tried to clip it over the advancing goalkeeper.
The biggest moment of the game came within the opening exchanges when Montreal’s Justin Mapp curled a shot towards the far corner only for Donovan Ricketts to conjure a decent stop.
MLS is divided into an East and West conference and the 0-0 result leaves the Galaxy third in the latter division, just a point behind current leaders Vancouver.
Montreal are in sixth in the Eastern standings with the top-six from each conference making the post-season play-offs.
