Saturday night was a big night for former Chelsea FC star Didier Drogba, who made MLS history. In what was just his second game and first MLS start, Drogba scored a hat-trick in a Montreal Impact 4-3 victory at home against the Chicago Fire. Becoming the first player in MLS history to score a hat-trick in his first MLS start.
Drogba originally joined the Impact back on July 27, but didn’t appear for Montreal immediately has he worked to gain fitness after getting injured with Chelsea two months earlier. On August 22nd, after nearly a month with Montreal, Drogba made his debut at Saputo Stadium as a substitute, coming on in the 60th minute of a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union. The next game Drogba missed yet again, due to a toe injury he had received during practice earlier that week. That all culminated in Saturday night’s match against the Chicago Fire where he found the back of the net in the 27th, 61st, and 65th minutes, the last of which would be the eventual game-winner for the Impact. The win in front of a sellout of 20,801 snapped a 4-game losing streak for Montreal.
After the game Drogba said of his performance “I just wanted to get the win, since I came to Montreal we haven’t won. Tonight we did it together. I just did the best I could” (TSN interview)
Before coming to Montreal, Drogba was the Chelsea FC captain prior to announcing that he would not return to Stamford Bridge on May 24, 2015. Although the Chicago Fire had a Discovery Claim on Drogba through MLS’ roster rules, they eventually lost out to Montreal, who signed the Chelsea legend in the summer transfer window. Drogba, who scored 100 goals in his time with Chelsea FC, is ranked 4th all-time in club history. During his entire professional career, Drogba now has 181 goals in 17 seasons.
Drogba and the Impact will be looking to keep up the momentum next Saturday as they visit the LA Galaxy.
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
