Striker Ali Gerba scored twice (9th and 36th minute), midfielder Anthony Le Gall (31st minute), team captain Nevio Pizzolitto (PK, 86th) and newcomer Idriss Ech Chergui (90th) scored the five goals for the Impact.
Goalkeeper Bill Gaudette registered his second shutout of the season. The Impact defence has not conceded a goal in the last 235 minutes in regular season play.
“We are satisfied with tonight’s result, most notably for all the players who never stopped working. They were rewarded tonight,” said Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos. “We needed a win and all the players answered well. The conditions were not easy, but we were able to adapt quickly. It’s an important win morally before Wednesday’s highly anticipated game against Vancouver."
Gerba opened the scoring for Montreal at the 9th minute. Near goalkeeper Rein Baart, Gerba deflected a point blank shot from midfielder Luke Kealmalmeyer.
Midfielder Anthony Le Gall doubled the Impact lead at the 31st minute when he deflected a free kick from defender Zurab Tsiskaridze inside the six-yard box.
Five minutes later, Le Gall passed the ball to Gerba behind the Edmonton defence. Alone in front of goalkeeper Baart, the Quebec striker scored his second goal of the game with a low shot.
At the end of the game, FC Edmonton goalkeeper Rein Baart was ejected following a foul against Kreamalmeyer in the 18-yard box. Nevio Pizzolitto scored on the penalty. With no changes left, midfielder Kyle Yamada finished the game in front of Edmonton net.
At the 90th minute, Idriss Ech Chergui, who replaced Leonardo Di Lorenzo at the 76th minute, scored the Impact’s fifth goal. While Yamada was out of his net, Ech Chergui scored in a empty cage.
The Impact created several scoring opportunities in the first half. At the 24th minute, Nevio Pizzolitto deflected with a header a corner to the first post from Kreamalmayer only a few inches above the Edmonton net. Then, at the 27th minute, Gerba gave the ball to Le Gall behind the Edmonton defence, but his shot went above the net while he was one-on-one gainst Baart.
In the second half, Antonio Ribeiro came close to scoring. At the 56th minute, Ribeiro lobbed the ball over the Edmonton keeper, but his shot rebounded a few inches left to the net.
Gaudette made important saves during the first half, including a save following a free kick from 30-meters from defender Alex Surprenant. He then stopped a header from forward Dan Antoniuk following a corner from Sam Lam. At the 38th minute, Gaudette was sharp when he dove to his right to block a 25-meter shot from midfielder Chris Kooy. At the 60th minute, Gaudette dove to his right to stop the point blank shot of Kyle Yamada.
Gerba scores more than one goal in a game for the seventh of his career. He also reached the 50-point career mark with the Impact, now in seventh place in team history.
Forward Reda Agourram (thigh), midfielder Hassoun Camara (thigh), as well as defenders Richard Pelletier (suspended) and Hicham Aaboubou (suspended) were not available for this game.
The Impact will travel to Vancouver on Monday to prepare for the second leg of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship semifinal against the Whitecaps, Wednesday at Empire Field (11pm, Rogers Sportnet ONE). Montreal lost 1-0 the first leg of this home-away aggreate goal series.
UPCOMING GAMES
• Wednesday, May 4 – IMPACT @ Whitecaps de Vancouver FC – Empire Field – 11pm (Rogers Sportsnet ONE)
• Wednesday, May 11 – New York Red Bulls @ IMPACT – Saputo Stadium – 7:30 pm (CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, radio-canada.ca/sports)
• Saturday, May 14 - Carolina RailHawks @ IMPACT - Saputo Stadium - 2:30pm (Radio-Canada, CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, radio-canada.ca/sports)
Nutrilite Canadian Championship game
International game
MATCH SUMMARY
Tweet
