MONTREAL – Once more, the Montreal Impact played a dirty trick on the New England Revolution.
The Impact snapped the Revs’ eight-game unbeaten streak this Saturday at Stade Saputo, defeating them by a 3-0 scoreline. It is a repeat of May 31, 2014, when Montreal stopped New England after seven games without a loss.
Johan Venegas, Didier Drogba and Dilly Duka were the scorers for Montreal (10-11-6, 36 pts) who stay two points ahead of New York City FC, also winners on Saturday, for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. New England drop to second in the East, courtesy of a 2-1 Columbus win at D.C. United.
Venegas opened his MLS account a mere five minutes into the first half. Ignacio Piatti spotted Eric Miller’s run down the right flank off the ball, but instead left the ball behind to Venegas who was sitting just outside the box. Steve Neumann closed Venegas down, but the shot took a deflection off him and flew past Bobby Shuttleworth and into the net.
Drogba added the second 61 minutes in. His direct free kick took a wicked deflection off of Kelyn Rowe’s head, and Shuttleworth's dive to his right was powerless to stop the redirected shot from hitting the back of the net.
The game could have turned on its head in the 72nd minute. Referee Ricardo Salazar showed Marco Donadel a yellow card just minutes earlier, but he showed him a straight red for a pointless and dangerous challenge crunching into Andrew Farrell feet first. The Revs had not only a man advantage, but also the fresh legs of Scott Caldwell, Diego Fagundez and Juan Agudelo who all came on as subs before the 70th.
Instead it was the Impact who pounced. A long punt from Evan Bush reached Drogba, who turned to face the New England defense. Drogba slipped the ball to the onrushing Duka, who casually lifted the ball over Shuttleworth as he went down to challenge him.
The Impact will be back in action as soon as next Wednesday, Sep. 23, when they host the Chicago Fire at Stade Saputo. The Revolution return to their home field next Saturday, Sep. 26, against the Philadelphia Union.
