Leduc netted his third goal of the season — his third on a PK — by placing the ball to the right of goalkeeper Joe Barton, who dove the wrong way.
It was Barton’s foul on Eduardo Sebrango that led to the penalty kick. As Sebrango was chasing down a through ball from Zé Roberto, the Atlanta ‘keeper hesitated before coming out and he brought down the Impact striker.
“We played with five midfielders and Eddy (Sebrango) on top. We knew it would be hot and muggy, so we waited for them in the midfield and counter-attacked, and it worked right away,” said head coach Nick DeSantis. “We even put pressure on them, and it led to Eddy’s break and the penalty kick.”
Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton picked up his 12th shutout of the season, a new personal best. He is only one away from the club record of 13 shutouts in a season, set by Paolo Ceccarelli in 1996.
“We were up against a team that won 10 in a row and has good attacking players, but we shut them down. And we even had more chances of our own,” added DeSantis, referring to Fred Commodore, who broke away at the 70th minute, went around the goalkeeper but slipped on the wet grass, and to attempts by Sandro Grande and Chris Lemire.
With the victory, the Impact moves alone on top of the Eastern Conference standings, three points ahead of the Rochester Rhinos, who lost 3-0 to the Virginia Beach Mariners, Saturday. The Silverbacks now slip five points behind Montreal. The Richmond Kickers, who did not play, are now four points away from first place.
After playing its next-to-last road game of the regular season, the Impact has an away record of 8-3-2.
Just before halftime, at the 40th minute, Atlanta’s Gary Brooks was ejected after elbowing Impact defender Adam Braz in the face. The local team, however, almost tied it up in the closing minutes when a 25-yard shot from Joe Afful hit the crossbar.
Montreal defender Gabriel Gervais missed his first game of the season, suffering from a knee injury.
The game was delayed twice for a total of almost an hour during the first half because of the threat of an electrical storm.
The Impact will be back at Claude Robillard Stadium on Wednesday, as the Charleston Battery, the A-League defending champions, will be the visiting team (7:30 pm, CJAD, CKAC). It will be the first of a series of six straight home games for Montreal.
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Stephane Banfi
(514) 328-3668 (ext. 27)
