Impact scores four against 10-man Revs

Marco Di Vaio PHOTO: FAISAL ZAMAN

Needing a road victory for the first time since early June in order to maintain it grasp on a third of the top rung on the MLS Eastern Conference ladder, the Montreal Impact put all the pieces in place to defeat the New England Revolution. Among the most significant elements of the victory was the fact that it played with a man advantage from the fifth minute on, and benefited from a second penalty kick gifted to the team by referee, Sorin Stoica, in the opening half of the 4-2 match.

New England starting ‘keeper Matt Reis was given a straight red for his tackle on Marco Di Vaio, in alone after being declared offside on two occasions earlier. After Bobby Shuttleworth replaced Reis and midfielder Chad Barrett had his night terminated, Patrice Bernier stepped up to the spot and, using the hesitant approach to the ball that has yet to fail him in MLS, slowly rolled the ball inside the left post after Shuttleworth had committed the other way.

The home side showed signs of fight, Kelyn Rowe putting a rising shot just over the bar that may have received minor encouragement from Troy Perkins fingertip, and maintaining pressure around the perimeter of the penalty area after a short throw-in in the 17th minute.

The Revs drew even in the 26th minute on a Diego Fagundez goal. After passing off to Dimitry Imbongo, he maintained his run to the goal line and when Jeb Brovsky’s sliding tackle freed the ball, the Uruguayan drove it into the back of the net from 10 metres without breaking stride.

Five minutes later Jose Goncalves bumped Felipe in the penalty area and a second penalty kick accrued to the visiting XI. Once again Bernier put it away, his stutter step freezing Shuttleworth on his line before rolling a slow one inside the left upright.

In the second of four added minutes that closed the opening half, Marco Di Vaio showed that he doesn’t spend entire games offside, corralling a long lob pass from defender Hassoun Camara with a single touch and spinning around defender A.J. Soares, before putting a right-footed shot into the mesh.

The majority of the crowd, announced at 9,165, out-decibelled for most of the evening by a busload of Montreal supporters in attendance, made their presence known as they gave Stoica a frank and direct assessment of his performance.

The teams traded goals in the second half with Di Vaio coming up with a slightly less elegant reworking of his earlier marker in the 55th minute, once again getting on the end of a Camara pass before putting the ball behind Shuttleworth.

The Revs second goal came off the foot of Rowe. Taking a pass from Saer Sene, the midfielder got past defender Matteo Ferrari before unleashing a shot that found the top right corner.

Fatigue and frustration took their toll as the game drew to the final whistle with the Revolution players debating matters with the referee on two occasions.

Andrea Pisanu and Daniele Paponi, who had both subbed in moments before, went down in a pile as Shuttleworth dove for the ball at their feet, the contact meriting disciplinary action in the minds of his teammates. Stoica and one of his sideline assistants disagreed on which team had put the ball out of play ended with Rowe being booked after offering his appreciation of the situation.

Head coach Marco Schallibaum, returned from his most recent suspension, was on the sidelines for the match. It is unlikely he expressed an opinion on the officiating.

The Impact’s next match has them playing host to the Columbus Crew on Saturday afternoon.

THROW-INS – The Impact will be without their two most recent signing for the next little while. Both Hernan Bernardello, the team’s second DP, and Adrian Lopez Rodriguez have fallen to injury. Bernardello’s anticipated return is in four to six weeks while speculation has Lopez Rodriguez out for as long as six months. Andres Romero, also absent from the lineup, is in Argentina with his wife and new-born twins.

• The Revolution and Impact played their match on a grass surface, Gillette Stadium being temporarily naturally turfed to host Tuesday’s friendly between Brazil and Portugal

• Chris Tierney and Diego Fagundez both reached milestones in the match. Defender Tierney, a local boy, made his 125th career appearance while the midfielder made his 50th.

• The Impact and Revolution have matched each other, result for result, over the half-dozen games leading up to today’s encounter, both teams posting going WLWWT.