SUMMARY
Nick De Santis’ squad also improved on the United Soccer Leagues First Division record for games without a loss.
The three points put the Impact into first place in the league, with 35 points, two ahead of the Rochester Raging Rhinos and the Richmond Kickers.
The Lynx opened the scoring in the 30th minute on a free kick by Joe Mattachione from 25 yards away from goal. The high shot beat goalkeeper Greg Sutton to his right.
In the 52nd minute of play, Impact midfielder Zé Roberto tied the game, with his first of the season. Roberto, hovering near the corner of the 18-yard-box, accepted a back pass from Ali Gerba, and fired a strong, low shot, beating the Lynx goalkeeper Theo Zagar to his left.
Impact captain Mauro Biello scored the game winner in the 72nd minute. On a centring pass by Ali Gerba, Biello found himself alone, on the left wing, in front of Zagar. The initial shot was stopped by Zagar, but Biello scored off his own rebound, dribbling around the goalkeeper .It was Biello’s fifth goal in his last four games, and his third game-winning goal this season.
The Impact continued to dominate in the second half, firing 15 shots on goal against only four for the Lynx.
With 12,885 fans, a new attendance record was set by the Impact in a regular season game, breaking the old mark of 12,086 spectators established in this season’s home opener on May 29, against the Rochester Raging Rhinos.
This was also the second largest crowd in club history. During the championship final last year, on September 18, against the Seattle Sounders, the Impact received 13,648 fans.
Montreal remains the only undefeated team in the First Division in the United Soccer Leagues.
The Impact has allowed only seven goals since the start of the season and lead the league in this category.
SAMSUNG POST-GAME COMMENTS
Ali Gerba
Mauro Biello
Nick De Santis
UPCOMING GAMES
The Impact plays two games in less than 24 hours on the road next weekend. The first is on Friday, July 29, against the Atlanta Silverbacks (8 pm), and then on Saturday, July 30, against the Charleston Battery (7:30 pm).
IMPACT LINE-UP
Greg Sutton, Nevio Pizzolitto, Gabriel Gervais, Adam Braz (David Fronimadis 65), Lars Lyssand (Mauricio Vincello 65), Sandro Grande, Mesut Mert (Masahiro Fukasawa 70) , Zé Roberto, Antonio Ribeiro (Darko Kolic 61), Ali Gerba (Patrick Leduc 75), Mauro Biello
TORONTO LINE-UP
Theo Zagar, Rick Titus, Nigel Henry, Andres Arango, Abraham François (Sean Fraser 76), Jamie Dodds, Joe Mattachione (Rumba Munthali 67), David Di Placido, Sita-Taty Matondo (Chris Williams 58), Said Ali (Wyn Belotte 70) Charles Gbeke
GOALS
TOR: Joe Mattachione 30
MTL: Zé Roberto (Ali Gerba) 52
MTL: Mauro Biello (Ali Gerba) 72
SHOTS TOR 9 MTL 24
SAVES TOR 9 MTL 5
FOULS TOR 12 MTL 12
OFFSIDES TOR 3 MTL 5
CORNERS TOR 1 MTL 7
CAUTIONS
TOR : Jamie Dodds 53
REFEREES
Tiger Liu, Nick Theodorakis, Pierre Cantave, Bedik Charchafian
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Source: Patrick Vallée
Info: 514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
