MONTREAL – Two headed goals from Hassoun Camara and Kyle Bekker provided the Montreal Impact with its third win of the season, 2-0 against Columbus Crew SC, Saturday afternoon. Camara and Bekker both scored in the second half at Olympic Stadium, sending the 22,053 supporters home happy.
The Impact (3-2-0, 9 pts) claimed the 50th MLS win in its history and leapfrogged Philadelphia Union to the top of the Eastern Conference. Crew SC, meanwhile, remains bottom of the Supporters’ Shield Standings.
“We had enough patience to unbalance them in the end,” said head coach Mauro Biello. “We had our chances in the second half, and Hassoun scored an excellent goal on a set piece. We still have a lot to work on, but this is a long season, and we’ve seen a lot of positives so far.”
Camara celebrated his 93rd MLS appearance for the Impact – the second-most in club history, tied with Felipe – in the best of ways. On a 48th-minute corner conceded by Ethan Finlay, Ontivero placed his out-swinging cross onto the head of Camara, who scored his sixth career MLS goal. Ontivero also tallied his first-ever assist with Montreal.
Bekker added the insurance goal in the 86th minute on one of several Montreal counters. An Ambroise Oyongo cross from the right flew over forward Dominic Oduro, but Kyle Bekker made the run at the far post to head home his first goal of the season. Oyongo picked up his first assist for the Impact on the play.
“No matter who is on the field, we’re all together in this,” said Hassoun Camara. “There’s cohesion within this group. It’s a collective effort under the leadership of our coach. We can achieve something good this season.”
Against the opponent that knocked them out of the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs, the Montreal players hogged the ball in the early going. After a cautious first quarter-hour, the number of opportunities soared on both sides, but they did not translate into goals.
Both teams put a combined three shots on target in the first half, however, despite several openings – not even taking into account a 21st-minute by Lucas Ontivero that crashed onto the post.
After Camara’s goal, just after halftime, the Impact created fine opportunities on the counter. In the 56th minute, most notably, Dominic Oduro came face to face with goalkeeper Steve Clark, who stopped him with a little help of centre back Michael Parkhurst. Bekker finally put the game to rest late on.
At the other end of the field, Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush made two saves in this game, his 20th career win in MLS. This was also his 14th clean sheet.
“We wanted to get back on track,” said Evan Bush. “It was a great performance from us. We dictated the pace of the game. They had a low block and tried to defend quite a bit to get us on the counter, but we managed that very well.”
The Impact’s next game takes place on Saturday, April 16, at 5pm EDT at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, against the Chicago Fire (TVA Sports, 98,5fm &TSN Radio 690). The Impact will then play its home opener at Stade Saputo on Saturday, April 23, at 4pm EDT against rivals Toronto FC (RDS, TSN, 98,5fm & TSN Radio 690). Excellent individual tickets, as well as season tickets starting at $98 per month and Pick-4-Packs, are still available on impactmontreal.com.
LINEUPS
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Donny Toia, Victor Cabrera, Laurent Ciman, Hassoun Camara (Ambroise Oyongo 72’); M-Kyle Bekker, Eric Alexander, Lucas Ontivero (Johan Venegas 67’), Ignacio Piatti, Harry Shipp (Calum Mallace 81’); F-Dominic Oduro
Subs not used – GK-Eric Kronberg; D-Wandrille Lefèvre; M-Patrice Bernier; F-Anthony Jackson-Hamel
CLB – GK-Steve Clark; D-Waylon Francis, Gaston Sauro (Tyson Wahl 25’), Michael Parkhurst, Harrison Afful; M-Will Trapp, Mohammed Saeid, Federico Higuain, Ethan Finlay, Justin Meram (Cedrick 72’); F-Kei Kamara (Ola Kamara 70’)
Subs not used – GK-Brad Stuver; M-Tony Tchani, Hector Jimenez, Rodrigo Saravia
GOALS
MTL – Camara (Ontivero) 48’
MTL – Bekker (Oyongo) 86’
CAUTIONS
MTL – Piatti 53’
MTL – Bekker 86’
