Boston teams have not had much luck in La Belle Province recently. After the Canadiens knocked the Bruins out of the NHL playoffs three weeks ago, the Montreal Impact defeated the New England Revolution on Saturday night at Stade Saputo. The match also marked the best outing for the Impact this season.
The Impact started hotter than the latest Ariana Grande single, and a goal in the 3rd minute set the tempo for the rest of the match. Andres Romero snuck past the Revolution defence, received a beautiful pass from Marco Di Vaio, and beat the Revs keeper one-on-one. The Argentine has now put together three solid appearances in a row for the Impact, after a very mediocre start to the MLS season.
The atmosphere in the ground was a nice change from recent home matches, as over 18,000 fans got behind their team. The chants for Marco Schällibaum and the protests against Nick Di Santis were put on hold, at least for one night.
The bright first-half play continued for the home team. In the 31st minute Canadian International Nakajima-Farran blasted a ball that was saved by the New England keeper, however Jack McInerney was in the right place at the right time to slot home the second goal for the Impact.
The partnership of Nakajima-Farran and Romero proved dangerous throughout the match, with the two wingers regularly switching sides, keeping the Revs on their toes. Montreal was able to keep their defensive shape in the second half and work hard to earn Troy Perkins the clean sheet. Since switching to a 4-4-2 formation in the second half versus Toronto FC last week, the Impact have looked more organized and dangerous going forward.
The clean sheet marked the 50th clean sheet for Troy Perkins, who has had a difficult start to the season. Perkins will be happy with the fact that today the Impact brought in some help to bolster the defence. Earlier this afternoon the Impact acquired Mamadou “Futty” Danso from the Portland Timbers in exchange for their second round draft pick. Danso is a big player with lots of MLS experience. With Nelson Rivas out again through injury, Danso will add some much needed experience to the defensive line.
The Impact take on Toronto FC on Wednesday in the second leg of the Canadian Championship final. Montreal is looking to defend their title from last season, and should be cautiously optimistic after drawing the first match in Toronto 1-1. With the Playoffs still a distant dream, the match on Wednesday could be the most important match the Impact play for the rest of the season. The winner of the Canadian Championship will earn a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League.
The Impact have the weekend off from MLS play, so players will no doubt take advantage of the Montreal Grand Prix being in town.
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