The Crew was looking for a fast start against Montreal on Saturday, and it got one in the form of Ethan Finlay's second-minute tally. A goal capped off by a laser of a shot from Finlay, Wil Trapp and Justin Meram were also influential in its creation.
Here's the moment where the sequence begins:
Meram has received a headed pass from Tyson Wahl and looks to break upfield. While Justin didn't receive an assist on the goal, he is about to make two plays that essentially make the entire sequence possible. First, he sees Calum Mallace immediately in front of him and makes a nice dribble to evade Montreal's #16:
The move slows him down slightly, allowing Andres Romero (at the half-line in the above still) to close down on him. Meram slides to the ground to save possession, seen below:
Fortunately for the Crew, Meram pulls this move off perfectly. Also notice the seven Impact players (circled in red) in the above image that are all within 15 yards or so of the ball. Meram saves the play here and quickly realizes that his team will have space to break by switching the play toward the middle of the field, catching unbalanced Montreal out of shape. The eventual goalscorer, Finlay (circled in yellow) in particular has plenty of space in order to make a run into the penalty area to part the defenders. We can't see where the other two defenders are in the shot quite yet, but you can see just how free he is here, and how much space exists between him and Trapp in the middle of the field.
We're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves there. First, take a look at the ball that Meram plays to Trapp to spring the break:
Do you notice anything peculiar about this still? It's not long after the previous screenshot was taken, as you can tell by the time on the clock in the upper-left. For one, Finlay is gone. Noticing the seam, he's already started to lay the foundation for his run. Additionally, all seven Montreal players are still bunched up on the left side of the pitch.
Finally -- probably my favorite part of the goal -- look at Trapp's head. The moment Meram plays the pass toward him, Trapp has already turned his eyes upfield to scan for the next play. This is a perfect visual example of what it means to think one pass ahead. The best players in this League have the ability to do this, and it's why Trapp is so highly regarded.
All that's left from here is to complete the play. Trapp takes a few touches into the pastures of green space that he has in front of him and sees Finlay making a seam-splitting run. He hits the through ball perfectly, fitting it into a 10-yard gap or so from about 30 yards away:
Here's a telling element of this play: looking at this still with no prior knowledge of the goal, you'd think Trapp was splitting the centerback and the leftback. Unfortunately for the Impact, that's Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare (the leftback) in the center of the pitch, with left midfielder Maxim Tissot tracking back in support. It's another telling element of how the Crew was able to exploit the Impact's lack of shape.
Now, teams rotate in support all the time, but take a look at the below screenshot. It's one that you've already seen, the moment when Meram slides to save possession. Notice the one Impact player who wasn't highlighted in the first usage of this still? That's Tissot, at midfield, some 15 yards behind Finlay. By the time the ball gets to Trapp, Tissot knows he has to hustle back to catch up in cover, but Ethan already has a step on him and the rest is history.
Of course, Finlay's finish was a powerful, rising display of skill and is not to be downplayed at all, but slowing this goal sequence down from the top reveals the bigger story and the importance of keeping shape as a side.
