The Montreal Impact consolidated their position at the top of the Eastern Conference, as they beat the Houston Dynamo 2-0 on Wednesday night at Stade Saputo.
Felipe scored his third of the season 14 minutes in while Marco Di Vaio re-joined Philadelphia Union’s Jack McInerney at the top of the scoring charts with his 10th of the season on 32 minutes.
The Impact now have 29 points to show from their 14 outings. Houston, meanwhile, are one of three teams on 22 points from 15 games in the conference, but are in fourth place by virtue of scoring fewer goals than the Union.
COMPLETE LINEUPS AND BOX SCORE
Houston conceded a goal in the opening quarter-hour for the first time this season when Felipe found the back of the net from close range. A wonderful through ball from Patrice Bernier beat the Dynamo's offside trap and found the Brazilian, who finished by poking the ball in between Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall’s legs.
The Dynamo slowly picked themselves up but were deflated by, ironically, their most glorious chance of the game. Matteo Ferrari clipped Will Bruin in the Montreal box, leading referee Chris Penso to point to the spot. Giles Barnes stepped up with a chance to bring Houston level, but he skied his attempt into the East Stand.
OPTA Chalkboard: Impact lose possession battle but take advantage of Dynamo mistakes
Corey Ashe then dug the Dynamo’s grave deeper in the 32nd minute. He weighed his back pass from midfield wrong and it turned into an assist for Di Vaio, who raced to the ball and then in on goal before lobbing Hall with stunning composure for Montreal’s second.
The Impact essentially played on the counter after halftime, mostly through pacey winger Sanna Nyassi. Houston, however, struggled to break down Montreal’s experience defensive block throughout.
Houston take on Canadian opposition again on Saturday, June 22, as they welcome Toronto FC at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Impact, for their part, will get an extra week's rest before they host the Colorado Rapids for the first time ever at Stade Saputo on Saturday, June 29.
Montreal Impact (9-3-2; 29 points) vs. Houston Dynamo (6-5-4; 22 points)
MLS regular season
June 19, 2013 – Stade Saputo, Montreal, Quebec
Attendance: 17,694
Scoring Summary:
Montreal: Felipe Martins 3 (Patrice Bernier 5) 14
Montreal: Marco Di Vaio 10 (unassisted) 32
Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall; Kofi Sarkodie, Bobby Boswell, Jermaine Taylor, Corey Ashe; Warren Creavalle (Brian Ching 78), Adam Moffat (Omar Cummings 69), Ricardo Clark (Luiz Camargo 87), Andrew Driver; Giles Barnes, Will Bruin
Substitutes not used: Tyler Deric, Eric Brunner, Cam Weaver, Mike Chabala
Montreal Impact: Troy Perkins; Hassoun Camara, Matteo Ferrari, Alessandro Nesta, Jeb Brovsky; Andrea Pisanu (Andrés Romero 65), Patrice Bernier, Felipe Martins, Sanna Nyassi; Daniele Paponi (Andrew Wenger 73), Marco Di Vaio (Collen Warner 88)
Substitutes not used: Evan Bush, Dennis Iapichino, Wandrille Lefèvre, Blake Smith
Misconduct Summary:
MTL: Matteo Ferrari (caution) 20
HOU: Kofi Sarkodie (caution) 53
MTL: Hassoun Camara (caution) 56
Referee: Chris Penso
Referee's Assistants: Matthew Kreitzer, Peter Balciunas
4th Official: Mark Kadlecik
