MONTREAL, Quebec – Two goals by Quebec midfielder Patrice Bernier and a second goal in as many games for Marco Di Vaio led the Montreal Impact to a 3-0 shutout win versus D.C. United, Saturday afternoon, in front a third sellout crowd in a row; 20,011 spectators at Stade Saputo.
The Impact opened the scoring in the 24th minute when midfielder Patrice Bernier, who received the ball near the left corner of the 18 yard-box from midfielder Lamar Neagle, took one touch and played a through ball to the corner of the six yard box. Designated Player Marco Di Vaio, patiently running onto the ball, turned toward goal and curled the ball into the top right corner, far post for his third of the season.
In the 49th minute, the Impact earned a penalty shot when Collen Warner was tripped in the box. Patrice Bernier converted his 6th penalty of the season with a stutter step, before playing a low ball just inside the corner to the right of United goalkeeper Bill Hamid, who guessed the wrong side.
Bernier added an insurance goal in stoppage time when he made a long run down the left side of the field, before beating Hamid to his right side with a low shot, short side. Bernier becomes the first ever Impact player to have a multi-goal game in MLS, and has five games in which he’s earned multiple points this season.
Goalkeeper Troy Perkins earned his second shutout in just three games with the Impact, making three saves in the win.
With the win, the Impact earned its fifth consecutive victory, its sixth win at home in a row, improving its record in Montreal to 10-3-2 (9-2-0 at Stade Saputo). The Impact is now one point behind D.C. United for 5th place in the Eastern Conference standings, which is the cut off for a spot in the playoffs.
The three goals scored in the game bring the team’s total to 42 on the season, breaking the post contraction record held by the Portland Timbers from last season (40).
WATCH: Postgame vs D.C. United
Postgame comments
“They (the players) deserve the win today,” said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch. “I’m really happy for the players because they worked hard; they worked well and for the entire game. But as I said all year, it’s one game. Every time we get a win, the next game becomes that much more important.”
“We didn’t have a good start to the game,” said forward Marco Di Vaio. “We were slow and we didn’t create anything dangerous. Then, Patrice (Bernier) made a great pass and I was able to score and the goal seemed to change things a little for us. We played better after that and the second half we were able to get that important second goal.”
“We are playing really well right now. We are moving up in the standings and winning games and everyone is playing well,” said midfielder Patrice Bernier. “Everyone is on the same page. Marco (Di Vaio) scored another important goal. Everything is coming together right now.”
Other highlights
In the 38th minute, Di Vaio played a corner kick through the box that bounced low towards the second post, just six yards out, but Brazilian midfielder Felipe narrowly missed the ball as he slid towards goal.
D.C. United had a good chance in the 43rd minute when midfielder Lewis Neal fired a long distant shot from about 35 yards out that bounced just wide left of Impact goalkeeper Troy Perkins.
In the 56th minute, Neagle played a cross across the box where a sliding Felipe just missed getting onto the end of the ball from six yards out, in similar fashion to his chance in the first half.
Perkins came up with a key stop in the 78th minute when Canadian international Dwayne De Rosario played a cross from near the goal line cross crease to a streaking Marcelo Saragosa, but the midfielder was stopped as Perkins came charging out to save a sure goal from just eight yards out.
Substitute Andrew Wenger almost scored another for the Impact in the 87th minute when he was played onside, but his chip from long distance landed just on top of goal.
Upcoming games
The first team will play its next game versus the Crew in Columbus on Saturday, September 1, at Crew Stadium at 7:30pm. The game will be broadcast live on TVA Sports and will be available on illico web, illico mobile and MLS Live.
The club’s next home game is set for September 22 at Stade Saputo, against Sporting Kansas City at 1pm (ET) at Stade Saputo. Individual tickets for games at Stade Saputo are available via the Admission Network. The Impact and Centraide is organizing a celebrity game that will be played right after the matchup versus Kansas City.
U21 vs North York: The Impact U21 (6-3-5) plays on Sunday, August 26 at 2pm at the Centre Sportif St-Jean-Vianney versus the North York Astros. The game is open to the public and admission is free.
Highlights: MTL 3, DC 0
Lineups
MTL: GK – Troy Perkins; D – Jeb Brovsky, Alessandro Nesta, Matteo Ferrari, Dennis Iapichino; M – Collen Warner, Patrice Bernier, Lamar Neagle (Andrew Wenger 69’), Davy Arnaud (Josh Gardner 89’), Felipe ; F – Marco Di Vaio (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 85’)
Subs not used: G – Evan Bush; D – Shavar Thomas, Karl W. Ouimette; M - Sanna Nyassi
DCU: GK – Bill Hamid; D - Chris Korb (Branko Boskovic 51’), Emiliano Dudar, Mike Chabala (Chris Pontius 58’), Brandon McDonald; M - Lewis Neal, Perry Kitchen, Andy Najar, Marcelo Saragosa; F -Long Tan (Dwayne De Rosario 61’), Lionard Pajoy
Subs not used: GK - Joe Willis; D - Dejan Jakovic; F - Hamdi Salihi, Josh Wolff
Goals
MTL – Marco Di Vaio (Bernier) 24’
MTL – Patrice Bernier (PEN) 50’
MTL – Patrice Bernier (Ferrari) 92’
Caution
DC – Brandon McDonald 49’
