It was a monumental night for the Montreal Impact in front of their home fans at Saputo Stadium as the Impact manhandled Columbus Crew SC 3-0 on Saturday.
Impact forward Dominic Oduro tallied twice and midfielder Marco Donadel scored a brilliant long-range marker to give Montreal the victory.
It was a solid outing for the Impact, who collected their first win since June 20 when the club won 2-0 against Orlando City SC.
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Montreal unleashed their offensive aptitude early in this contest, scoring twice in the opening eight minutes.
Known for his remarkable pace, Oduro scored first, beating Columbus defender Emanuel Pogatetz to the ball before rounding goalkeeper Steve Clark for a clinical finish in the 5th minute.
In the 8th minute, Donadel sent a scorcher from about 30 yards out into the net. If the crowd wasn’t into it yet, they certainly were after the Italian scored his first MLS goal to give the Impact a two-goal advantage early.
Donadel would celebrate his goal by embracing his daughter with a hug near the stands.
“From that distance, you’re never sure you’re going to score, but sometimes you get lucky,” explained Donadel after the match.
Columbus had to go into recovery mode and regroup afterwards. The Crew countered with a stronger second half as Columbus midfielder Tony Tchani and forward Justin Meram both came close to scoring, with the latter hitting the crossbar.
But Columbus’ early gaffes were too much for them to return from and in the 80th minute, Oduro would get a brace with his second goal of the night.
Impact midfielder Dilly Duka had the initial shot and Oduro put home the rebound, stealing a loose ball from Clark and sending it in the net. After his goal, Oduro celebrated with a salute to the Impact fans.
It was a great offensive display by the Impact, who continued to get opportunites in the attacking third all match long.
Donadel had a strong performance at both ends of the pitch, Duka continued to create space for the Impact attack and midfielder Ignacio Piatti, who picked up an assist on Oduro’s first goal, had a solid outing as well for Montreal. Playing in the midfield, Calum Mallace also had a notable game with an assist on Donadel’s goal.
Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush was also great when called upon as he made five saves to secure the clean sheet. Moreover, Montreal’s defensive core did a fine job stopping MLS leading scorer Kei Kamara and MLS assist leader Ethan Finlay.
This win is Montreal’s second victory against Columbus this season. The first was on June 6 in Columbus.
With the three points, the Impact are currently eighth in the Eastern Conference with 21 points in only 16 games played. Columbus sit fourth in the Eastern Conference and are only three points ahead of Montreal with 24 points in 19 games.
The Impact play Sporting Kansas City on July 18 at Sporting Park in Kansas City, while the Crew will try to get back into the win column when they visit the Chicago Fire on July 15.