Impact gets a great goal — and lots of luck — in win over Revs

Sanna Nyassi PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER

Facing a New England Revolution side that, more often than not, has allowed the enemy to leave town with more points on the table than it had on arrival, the Montreal Impact added three to its season total, remaining in the playoff race for at least another week.

Whether credit for the 1-0 win should go to midfielder Sanna Nyassi, or the 75-strong group of supporters who made Gillette Stadium sound like Saputo Stadium is a question of debate, but there is no doubt that the Impact stole one tonight as it won its second road game of the year.

The first half saw both sides exhibit tentative forays and easily countered attempts for the most part with the woodwork proving to be the Impact’s most valuable asset. Montreal’s attempts in the 14th and 18th minute ended with Impact players ultimately running out of room and unable to put shots on the net defended by veteran keeper, Matt Reis, playing in his 275th MLS game.

Hassoun Camara, starting in the middle of the backfield in place of Alessandro Nesta on the synthetic surface, headed a New England corner out of harm’s way in the 23rd minute and dispossessed an enemy intruder in the 32nd to neutralize another threat before things turned potentially ugly for the Impact.

A 36th minute pass from Revs defender, Chris Tierney, missed its intended receiver, Ryan Guy and rolled on, beating Perkins and bouncing off the right hand post. Forward Saer Sene had his kick at the can in the 41st minute with a rising shot from just outside the penalty area. It rattled off the crossbar.

Sanna Nyassi replaced Justin Mapp after the interval, a move that proved to be well-timed on the part of head coach, Jesse Marsch, but not until after New England midfielder Lee Nguyen put one on target, his bouncing shot from 25 metres out giving Perkins some trouble before he corralled it.

Nyassi got possession of the ball on the Montreal side of midfield in the 61st minute. Charging downfield at full speed he cleanly and deftly beat defender A..J Soares and drilled one at the New England net, bulging the twine behind Reis for the only goal of the match, his fifth of the present campaign and one that should be a serious contender for Goal of the Week.

Ten minutes later neither Lady Luck nor the referee smiled on the Revolution. A goal-bound shot off the boot of Ryan Guy struck Dennis Iapichino’s forearm while the Impact defender was in the penalty area, his infraction going unremarked and unpunished.

Andrew Wenger subbed in for Marco De Vaio up front in the 76th minute, the Italian striker not a factor in the game, quite probably as a result of his recent overseas travels and travails.

As time wound down the home side redoubled their efforts to salvage at least a single point in front of their fans. It came close on a few occasions.

An 88th-minute chance was nullified by Lamar Neagle, who cleared it out of the Montreal half of the pitch.

A minute later, Iapichino and the ball interfaced inappropriately once again with the Impact player’s offence, outside the penalty area this time, not going unnoticed the second time around.

The New England free kick was awkwardly handled by Perkins with the ball rolling between his legs before Matteo Ferarri cleared it, his shot ricocheting off Jeb Brovsky on its way out of bounds.

The resulting corner, a short pass to Nguyen, was redirected to the centre of the box by the Texas-born midfielder, but the Chris Tierney headed attempt went wide of the mark.

New England managed a final try in added time, a 20-metre shot from Sene that didn’t make it to the goal.

The Impact’s next game is against the league-leading San Jose Earthquakes next Saturday at Saputo Stadium.

THROW-INS – The Revolution doubled up the promotional tie-ins for today’s game with arriving fans being given Matt Reis bobbleheads and those wishing to stick around afterwards being treated to a professional light middleweight bout between local favorite (and avowed Revs fan), the redundantly nicknamed “Irish” Danny O’Connor and Eddie Soto, a Pawtucket fighter billed as “The Puerto Rican Sensation.”

• After having his goals against Kansas City and Seattle being placed in nomination earlier this season, Montreal midfielder Felipe’s spectacular marker against Philadelphia last week earned him MLS Goal of the Week honours. He was also named to the Team of the Week, his third recognition, as was defender Alessandro Nesta.

• Montreal’s training sessions will be a few bodies short as it prepares for next week’s match against San Jose. Midfielder Patrice Bernier and forward Evan James have been summoned by the Canadian national squad for its friendly against Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday and backliner Shavar Thomas will be playing for Jamaica against El Salvador the same night.