MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact fell 2-0 on Wednesday night to A.S. Roma at Stade Saputo, but following the game the buzz surrounding some players who have featured for FC Montreal this season was a major talking point.

The Impact used a big squad as they hosted the Serie A giants for an international exhibition, with the club’s regular starters such as Didier Drogba, Ignacio Piatti and Eric Kronberg opening the contest. When the chance arrived for players like David Choiniere – who recently became the first FC Montreal player to sign as a Homegrown Player with the Impact – and FC Montreal co-leading scorers Anthony Jackson-Hamel and Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, the youngsters took their chance.

Roma had taken an early two-goals lead as goals by Edin Dzeko in the sixth minute and Radja Nainggolan 15 minutes later had put the visitors on top. Montreal’s Choiniere came closest to pulling a goal back on the half-hour mark, as he received a pass from Piatti at the top of the penalty area and hit a curling shot that came off the inside of the right post, and away to safety.

Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau – who has made 14 appearances for FCMTL this season – came on at halftime, and recorded seven saves to keep the Impact in the game. For Crepeau, who has yet to make his full MLS debut, the chance to compete against one of the best sides in Europe was an enjoyable challenge.

“You don’t face A.S. Roma every day,” Crépeau said after the game. “We had fun out there. We didn’t put pressure on ourselves. I’m pleased with my 45 minutes. We didn’t concede, which is the biggest objective.”

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Tabla then came on midway through the second half, and immediately brought energy to the Impact’s attack. After sending a shot just wide moments after coming on, Tabla ripped a left-footed strike toward the top-right corner with 15 minutes to go that came back off the crossbar, as Jackson-Hamel’s follow-up into the open net was ruled offside. Tabla also set up a big chance for Matteo Mancosu with 10 minutes to go that was headed over, but the performance as a whole pleased Impact Coach Mauro Biello.

“We were a bit nervous at first, but we grew into the game against a top-class opponent,” said Biello. “We made a lot of changes, but we created a lot of good chances and managed to unbalance them. In the end, we could have had some goals tonight.”