MONTREAL ā Even when Ignacio Piatti is less than completely healthy, his play can still carry the Montreal Impact.
After missing the Impactās past two games because of a hip and groin injury, Piatti scored on a penalty kick in added time at the end of the first half of Montreal's match against Atlanta United on Saturday for his second goal in four starts.
Piattiās goal sent Montreal into halftime even 1-1 against Atlanta in the Impactās first game of the season at Stade Saputo. Anthony Jackson-Hamel sent the crowd of 17,144 home happy with his first MLS goal of the season late in second half stoppage time for a 2-1 win, Montrealās first of the season.
āIām not 100 percent but I wanted to play, thatās for sure,ā Piatti said. āBut I finished well, I feel good, and I think this week weāll work on it so I feel even better for Philadelphia [next Saturday].ā
Piatti had a chance to say hello before the game to fellow Argentine and Atlanta United coach Gerardo Martino; the Impact midfielder said that the former Barcelona and Argentina national team coach hadn't realized he would be able to play.
āItās very important for us when weāre playing at home to win,ā Piatti said. āItās not important if weāre playing well or if weāre playing bad, but the important thing is we won today and when we play at Saputo Stadium itās important to take the three points. Weāre happy today. We know Atlanta has a very good team, they have a lot of good players, but I think we played well today and we won.ā
While Piattiās return was bad news for Atlanta, it was well received by his Impact teammates.
āHeās like the pilot when heās flying, so it was good to have the main captain back on the team,ā Impact forward Dominic Oduro said. āHe orchestrates everything for us and he showed his brilliancy today so it was good to have him on the team. He gave us a little bit of spark. I thought we played well and having his presence was a boost.ā
Impact coach Mauro Biello said that Piattiās presence was felt throughout his lineup, even if he was performing at less than full strength.
āObviously Piattiās one of the best players in the league and you see that in his qualities,ā Biello said. āIn the first half, every time he had the ball there was something happening, something dangerous and heās that type of player, like the Giovincos, the Villas, and these types of players in the league. [Miguel] Almiron, on the other end, on this team, is a very good player also. You see that those types of players when theyāre able to express themselves, yeah, they make the difference and thatās why theyāre Designated Players.
"And Nacho, he loves it here, he wants to win here, he probably wasnāt at 100 percent and he wanted to play and he felt good. And now hopefully we can continue to help get him to 100 percent because when he is, heās very effective.ā