Pepi's late goal gives FC Dallas draw with Montreal

Ricardo Pepi booted home a rebound six minutes into second-half stoppage time to lift FC Dallas to a stunning 2-2 draw with the visiting Montreal Impact on Saturday afternoon in Frisco, Texas.

Pepi's goal, which came off a deflected shot by Zdenek Ondrasek after a pass deep into the box, found the net for his first career goal. The 17-year old forward has played in nine games in two seasons for FCD.

Pepi's heroics overshadowed the performance of Montreal's Maximiliano Urruti, who scored twice in a nine-minute span to give the Impact a 2-0 lead.

Urruti, who played for FC Dallas from 2016-18, was on the doorstep in the 59th minute when Saphir Taider lifted a ball into the box and onto the head of Orji Okwonkwo, who hit the left post with a shot from close range.

The ball bounded to Urruti, who rolled it past FCD keeper Jesse Gonzalez and into the net.

FC Dallas players celebrate after scoring a goal against the Montreal Impact.
FC Dallas players celebrate after scoring a goal against the Montreal Impact.
USA Today Images

Urruti had just four goals in 31 games for the Impact last season. He has three this year after scoring the game-winner for Montreal (1-0-1, 4 points) in its season-opener on Feb. 29.

Urruti's second goal came in the 68th minute as Zachary Brault-Guillard sent a cross into the box off a Dallas defender and onto his right foot for the easy goal.

Dallas cut the lead in half in the 83rd minute when Ondrasek headed home a pass from Reggie Cannon, with Thiago Santos garnering the goal's second assist.

The home side (1-0-1, 4 points) had the only two real scoring chances in the first half as Montreal goalkeeper Clement Diop turned away shots from Jesus Ferreira in the 18th minute and from Matt Hedges 13 minutes later.

Dallas dominated the statistics, outshooting Montreal 17-7, putting five shots on goal to two for the Impact and leading 9-2 in corner kicks. It also led in possession percentage (58.9 percent to 41.1 percent), total passes (548-401) and passing accuracy (84 percent to 80 percent).