Impact Clinch Victory Against Revolution

The undefeated run of the Montreal Impact was extended to four matches on Saturday night with a 3-0 victory over one of the top sides in MLS, the New England Revolution. The 'Revs took a six match winning streak into the night, however a re-energized Impact side were able to bring that run to an end. The victory continues a busy month of September for the Impact who have two more crucial home games coming up this week. The win leaves Montreal in the sixth and final playoff position in the MLS Eastern Conference.

Venegas Scores First Goal:

"We have to keep doing what we are doing now and look at it one game at a time." - Dilly Duka

The game was not even six minutes old when one of the new summer signings marked his first goal for the Bleu-Blanc-Noir. Johan Venegas, the 26 year old from Costa Rica opened the scoring for the Impact with a long range shot that took a defection off New England defender Steve Neumann and past a hapless Bobby Shuttleworth.

The Revolution came close to finding an equalizer in the 31st-minute off a corner kick. After playing the corner kick short, Neumann sent in a perfectly weighted cross to Charlie Davies at the back post. However Laurent Ciman, who had missed out on the last three matches due to international duties and suspension, was there to clear the scoring chance off the line.

This was the Venegas they were hoping for tonight. His best game. #IMFC

— BrianWilde (@BWildeCTV) September 20, 2015

Drogba Effect Rolls On:

"We have to keep doing what we are doing now and look at it one game at a time." - Dilly Duka

With the playing conditions deteriorating over the course of the evening it was difficult for either team to get much in the way of an attack going through the midfield. Didier Drogba was able to find the back of the net and mark his fourth goal since joining the Impact. In the 60th-minute Drogba lined up to take a long range free-kick which ended up taking a deflection off Kelyn Rowe and past Shuttleworth. The New England keeper was unlucky on Saturday night with two of the Montreal goals coming off deflections.

The one sour note for the Impact on the night came in the 72nd-minute when Montreal midfielder Marco Donadel was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Revolution player Andrew Farrell. This is the second match in wet conditions that Donadel has been sent off, the other coming in Chicago back in May. Although there had been nothing malicious about the match up to that point, Donadel misjudged his tackle on the water-logged pitch and the referee felt it deserved a direct sending off.

Insurance Marker:

"We played against a really good team, played a really good second half and closed out the game." - Mauro Biello

Shortly after the sending off of Donadel the Impact put the game away by scoring a third goal. After an amazing first touch from Didier Drogba he was able to find substitute Dilly Duka running down the wing. The American midfielder made no mistake putting the game out of reach in the 76th-minute.

Whats Next:

The Impact return to play on Wednesday night against the Chicago Fire. Chicago will not want to see a repeat of the last meeting in which Didier Drogba scored a hat trick in a 4-3 victory. Marco Donadel will be suspended for the game against the Fire after his red card against the Revolution and Calum Mallace looks like he might miss some time after picking up an injury on Saturday night. On the bright side defender Ambroise Oyongo is set to return after serving a suspension. Getting points over the next two games at home is crucial if Montreal hopes to make MLS playoffs for the second time.

Game Statistics and Quotes Courtesy of the Montreal Impact:

LINEUPS
MTL - GK-Evan Bush; D-Donny Toia, Laurent Ciman, Victor Cabrera, Eric Miller; M- Calum Mallace (Nigel Reo Coker 54'), Marco Donadel, Andrés Romero (Dilly Duka 71'), Ignacio Piatti (Kyle Bekker 77'), Johan Venegas; F-Didier Drogba

Subs not used: GK-Eric Kronberg; D-Wandrille Lefèvre, Hassoun Camara; F-Dominic Oduro

NE - GK-Bobby Shuttleworth; D-Andrew Farrell, Chris Tierney, Jeremy Hall (Juan Agudelo 70'), José Goncalves; M-Jermaine Jones, Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen, Teal Bunbury (Diego Fagundez 61'), Steve Neumann (Scott Caldwell 61'); F-Charlie Davies

Subs not used: GK-Brad Knighton; D-Kevin Alston; M-Daigo Kobayashi; F-Donald Smith

GOALS
MTL - Venegas (Piatti) 5'
MTL - Drogba 60"
MTL - Duka (Drogba) 76'

CAUTIONS
MTL - Ciman 63'
MTL - Donadel 69'

EJECTION

MTL - Donadel 72'