Jackson-Hamel clinches first win of the season for Bleu-blanc-noir
MONTREAL – Having come on as a substitute, Anthony Jackson-Hamel was the hero of the day at Stade Saputo this Saturday afternoon as his stoppage-time goal gave the Montreal Impact a 2-1 win against expansion team Atlanta United, which for its part suffered the first away loss in its short history.
Kenwyne Jones had opened the scoring for the visitors, but Nacho Piatti and Jackson-Hamel turned the tide for the Impact, which showed great will and tenacity, especially after the ejection of Atlanta centre back Leandro González Pírez, as his teammates then dropped back and attempted to shut up shop.
“Every day, the message is that we have to believe,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We have to believe that we can score at any given moment in a game. We played against a good team, but we put forth a great effort and showed a lot of conviction until the end. That’s the mentality that we want to adopt at Stade Saputo.”
Bleu-blanc-noir comes from behind again
Thrilled to be playing in front of its supporters again, the Bleu-blanc-noir started well and created a handful of chances in the first quarter-hour. An inspired Piatti pulled off a number of moves that gave headaches to Atlanta defenders and, crucially, set up dangerous opportunities in the 5th and 10th minute.
Another clear opportunity came in the 26th, as Piatti released Dominic Oduro in behind the backline. The ball took a weird bounce that unsettled pretty much everyone, including Oduro, whose shot missed the frame. A second potential 1-v-1 situation with the goalkeeper was thwarted three minutes later as González Pírez slid to hook the ball away from Matteo Mancosu – which wouldn’t be the last encounter between the two players.
Still, Atlanta struck first, in the 40th minute. After a misunderstanding at the back, Héctor Villalba played Kenwyne Jones through, and Jones took a low shot with his right foot and beat goalkeeper Evan Bush.
The visitors thought they would head back to the locker room with a lead, but in stoppage time, Mancosu once more found González Pírez in his path. But the defender fouled Mancosu in the area, and referee Alan Kelly pointed to the penalty spot before sending González Pírez off. Piatti took the penalty kick and placed the ball to the left of goalkeeper Alec Kann, who had dived the right way. The Bleu-blanc-noir thus came back from a one-goal deficit for the third time already this season.
“Atlanta is a very good team, and this win feels good,” said Piatti. “It’s important to take all three points at home. We played well, but the important thing was to pick up a win. It was tough in the second half as they all dropped back, but we did it in the end.”
Piatti kept on the good work after the break. In the 53rd minute, the Argentinean crossed for Chris Duvall, whose header wasn’t quite powerful enough to beat Kann.
With a man advantage, the Impact pushed into Atlanta’s half, and the visitors held strong for the most part. Ballou Tabla, upon coming on as a sub, managed to create a number of chances, while strikes by Laurent Ciman, Ambroise Oyongo and Piatti again missed the target.
In the 93rd minute, Jackson-Hamel finally pulled the Impact ahead. From outside the area, Hernán Bernardello took a low shot that Jackson cleverly tipped with his right foot. The ball caressed the post to the left of Kann, who had moved to the other side and couldn’t recover in time to prevent the ball from crossing the line.
“Most of all, this is an important win for the team,” said Jackson-Hamel. “We needed that at home. It feels good. We needed to create chances, and that’s what we did. We pushed hard to go and get this win.”
Next games
The Impact will play its second game at Stade Saputo this season on Saturday, April 29, at 3pm EDT against Vancouver Whitecaps FC (TVA Sports, CTV, 98,5FM & TSN Radio 690). Excellent tickets for this game, as well as season tickets and mini season packages, are still available on impactmontreal.com. In the meantime, the Bleu-blanc-noir will play away from home again next Saturday, April 22, when it takes on the Union in Philadelphia at 1pm (TVA Sports, 98,5FM & TSN Radio 690).
LINEUPS
MTL – GK-Evan Bush; D-Hassoun Camara, Víctor Cabrera (Chris Duvall 21’), Laurent Ciman, Ambroise Oyongo; M-Dominic Oduro (Anthony Jackson-Hamel 83’), Calum Mallace (Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla 62’), Patrice Bernier, Hernán Bernardello, Nacho Piatti; F-Matteo Mancosu
Subs not used – GK-Maxime Crépeau; D-Kyle Fisher, Daniel Lovitz; M-Adrián Arregui
ATL – GK-Alec Kann; D-Mark Bloom, Michael Parkhurst, Leandro González Pírez, Greg Garza; M-Héctor Villalba (Chris McCann 80’), Carlos Carmona, Julian Gressel (Anton Walkes 46’), Jeff Larentowicz, Miguel Almirón; F-Kenwyne Jones (Kevin Kratz 73’)
Subs not used – GK-Alex Tambakis; D-Mikey Ambrose; M- Harrison Heath; F-Jacob Peterson
GOALS
ATL – Jones (Villalba) 40’
MTL – Piatti (PK) 45’ + 5’
MTL – Jackson-Hamel (Bernardello) 90’ + 3’
CAUTIONS
MTL – Cabrera 13’
MTL – Piatti 45’ + 1’
ATL – Kann 90’ + 1’
EJECTION
ATL – González Pirez 45’ + 4’
