MONTREAL, Quebec – The Montreal Impact scored four goals for a second consecutive game at home with a 4-2 win over the Houston Dynamo, Saturday, at Stade Saputo. Forward Sanna Nyassi, captain Davy Arnaud, defender Hassoun Camara and midfielder Patrice Bernier scored for the home side in its 5th win of the season. The Impact now has a record of 4-1-2 at home this year.
The Impact opened the scoring in the 4th minute when Patrice Bernier gave the ball to midfielder Felipe, who immediately gave a through ball to Nyassi, breaking in alone on goal. His shot was almost stopped by Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall, but rolled into the net. Felipe’s helper was his fourth point in as many games, while Bernier got his fifth assist of the season.
Postgame reactions
Houston tied the game in the 16th minute off of a free-kick from about 25 yards out. Midfielder Brad Davis curled a left-footed shot around the wall, beating Ricketts short side as he got a piece of the ball diving to his left before the ball penetrated the net near the top right corner.
The home team took the lead back five minutes later when defender Jeb Brovsky played a ball into space, deep down the left flank for Justin Mapp. The midfielder then played a left-footed cross in the air towards the second post where midfielder Davy Arnaud headed the ball passed Hall, just underneath the crossbar.
The Dynamo answered with another equalizer when Brian Ching played a ball behind the Impact defence. Forward Will Bruin ran onto the ball near the penalty spot and slipped it past a charging Ricketts.
For the third time in the game, the Impact went ahead in the 60th minute off of a Felipe corner kick. The Brazilian midfielder curled one towards the short post where Arnaud flicked it on with his head across the crease. Defender Hassoun Camara right-footed half-volley off of a bounce and put it inside the post for his first ever goal in MLS.
The Impact then scored the insurance goal in the 68th minute when Patrice Bernier fired one home from the penalty spot, his second PK goal of the season. Running up to the ball, he slowed just before taking the shot, and beat Hall to the right as the keeper going the opposite way.
“I think we grew up tonight,” said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch. “It was great to see. You can compare the end of the first half to the game we played in New York. We said that this was a mental challenge, and we had to handle this well and push forward, and they did great. We had a bunch of guys who had good performances. That was definitely a team tonight.”
“Letting in two goals was not ideal in the first half, but we were able to keep pushing and got the win,” said defender Hassoun Camara. “Maybe earlier in the season, we would have let it affect us, but we came out in the second and were determined to keep playing our game. We finished strong and had another good performance at home.”
“Having three central midfielders causes a lot of trouble for other teams,” noted midfielder Justin Mapp. “If we keep possession of the ball on this big field, good things will happen for us.”
The Impact played the final 17 minutes of the game a man up as midfielder Adam Moffat was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle on Felipe.
Next Game
The Impact will play its next game Wednesday at Stade Saputo, against its Canadian rivals Toronto FC, at 7:30pm (ET). First Designated Player in club history Marco Di Vaio will play his first game. New season ticket packages for all matches at Stade Saputo, as well as mini-season packages, are available via impactmontreal.com, or by calling 514-328-3668.
The club will then hit the road to face D.C. United at RFK Stadium, on Saturday, June 30, at 7:30pm (ET).
Highlights: MTL 4, HOU 2
Lineups
MTL: GK - Donovan Ricketts; D - Jeb Brovsky, Hassoun Camara, Nelson Rivas (Shavar Thomas 62’), Zarek Valentin; M – Davy Arnaud (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 88’), Felipe, Patrice Bernier, Collen Warner, Justin Mapp; F – Sanna Nyassi (Eduardo Sebrango 88’)
Subs not used: GK – Evan Bush; D – Tyson Wahl; M - Lamar Neagle; F – Justin Braun
HOU: GK - Tally Hall; D - Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe; M - Colin Clark (Brian Ownby 62’), Adam Moffat, Je-Vaughn Watson (Luiz Camargo 51’), Brad Davis; F - Will Bruin, (c) Brian Ching (Warren Creavale 81’)
Subs not used: GK – Tyler Deric; M - Nathan Sturgis; F - Macoumba Kandji, Cam Weaver
GOALS:
MTL – Nyassi (Felipe, Bernier) 4’
HOU – Davis 16’
MTL – Arnaud (Mapp, Brovsky) 21’
HOU – Bruin (Ching) 45’
MTL – Camara (Arnaud, Felipe) 60’
MTL – Bernier 67’ (PK)
CAUTIONS:
HOU – Clark 44’HOU – Boswell 68’
MTL – Arnaud 72
MTL – Felipe 90’
EJECTIONS:
HOU - Moffat 73’
