Impact fall to the Houston Dynamo 3-2 , Piatti scores another goal

The Montreal Impact lose again to the Houston Dynamo and stay winless at BBVA Compass Stadium. Losing 3-2 is not dishonourable especially when you see the way the Impact score their goals to put the pressure on its Eastern Conference rival.

A more organized Impact squad showed up at the start of the second half as it was able to defend correctly while creating dangerous scoring chances. Marco Di Vaio's missed chance, early in the game, from a beautiful pass from Romero could have shattered the confidence of an average Houston back-line.

But it was the home team that drew first blood. Gil Barnes takes advantage of a deflected ball to break towards Evan Bush and beats the Ohio-native at the 30th minute. Ten minutes later, Felipe, starting as CMF in place of Patrice Bernier, finds Dilly Duka at the top of the box.

The midfielder was unmarked and scores with a soft left-footed shot to get the Impact a well-deserved equalizer. Both teams went back to their locker rooms tied at half-time.

The late goal from Duka gave confidence to the bleu-blanc-noir as they took the lead at the 55th minute. Off a quick break, Marco Di Vaio gets the ball at the half-line and sucks in three Dynamo defenders towards. A streaking Piatti goes towards the middle of the pitch as he received a through ball from Di Vaio. With the same three Dynamo defenders, he pushes his way into the box and beats Deric, the Houston goalkeeper.

But within ten minutes, the Orange Crush cooks up its magical recipe and prepares a comeback. Barnes scores his second of the game when he easily taps in a low pass from Omar Cummings with little pressure from the Impact defence.

Then, Ricardo Clark finds the ball after a Brad Davis corner kick that bounced off before getting to the eventual goal scorer. From the far post, Clark volleys the ball into the goal and gives the Houston Dynamo the lead for good.

It was another game of mistakes for the Impact as it had to play without Matteo Ferrari during the second half as he was substituted at half-time for precautionary measures. The good news is that Piatti is scoring goals like it's going out of style and confirming his talent that was displayed in Argentina and at the Copa Libertadores.

The Impact players wore a black armband for the game, honouring teammate Karl W. Ouimette, who lost his sister earlier this week after a 12-year battle with Leukemia.

The Impact will host Landon Donovan for the second and last time of his MLS career on Wednesday at 7:30pm EDT at Stade Saputo.

Lineups

MTL - GK-Evan Bush; D-Eric Miller, Wandrille Lefèvre, Matteo Ferrari (Heath Pearce 45'), Krzysztof Krol (Maxim Tissot 67'); M-Calum Mallace (Jack McInerney 73'), Felipe, Andrés Romero, Dilly Duka, Ignacio Piatti; F-Marco Di Vaio

Subs not used: GK-Troy Perkins; D-Futty Danso; M-Jeremy Gagnon-Laparé; F-Anthony Jackson-Hamel

HOU - GK-Tyler Deric; D-David Horst, A.J. Cochran, Corey Ashe, DaMarcus Beasley; M-Brad Davis (Andrew Driver 83'), Ricardo Clark, Luis Garrido, Oscar Garcia; F-Omar Cummings (Brian Ownby 77'), Giles Barnes

Subs not used: GK-Michael Lisch; D-Eric Brunner; M-Alexander Lopez

Goals

HOU - Barnes 30'
MTL - Duka (Felipe) 40'
MTL - Piatti (Di Vaio) 55'
HOU - Barnes (Cummings) 62'
HOU - Clark (Davis) 65'

Cautions

MTL - Felipe 71'