Impact continues domination against the Lions in 3-1 win
We’d have to go all the way back to 2016 for the last time the Impact lost to Orlando City SC, and it wasn’t so different last Saturday afternoon either, at Orlando City Stadium. The Bleu-blanc-noir was dominant away from home, taking a three-goal lead into second-half stoppage time before allowing the Lions to find the back of the net.
It put an end to goalkeeper Evan Bush’s shutout streak against the Lions at 347 minutes, but at least, Rémi Garde’s men get to come back home with three more points won on the road.
“The entire team worked hard in this game,” said midfielder Nacho Piatti. “We managed to score three goals up front, but it’s truly the entire team that was involved. It was a good win. We’ve managed to win two of our first three games. It’s a good start and it needs to continue.”
While the Impact’s forwards were productive up front, trying 19 shots on net and getting 11 on target, one shy of the club record in MLS, the team was especially stingy defensively, eager to prove that last week’s lapses at the back against Houston were an exception.
This time around, the Bleu-blanc-noir outdueled its opponent through 90 minutes and limited head coach James O’Connor’s men to just two shots on target.
“When they did get chances, it was almost always us giving them the opportunities,” explained head coach Rémi Garde. “We did what we wanted to do, but it wasn’t easy. Orlando hadn’t won yet, but it was clear that they caused the teams they faced problems in the first two games.”
Victory before the break
Following a tough loss in the final minutes of last week’s game against Houston, the conversation at training this week swirled around the importance of immediately bouncing back. Head coach Rémi Garde therefore opted to use the exact same 11 he did in Texas, hoping to see a positive reaction from his players.
Luckily, the team was electric coming out of the gate, scoring twice before the 20-minute mark.
“It feels good, especially since we weren’t content with last week’s result,” said full-back Bacary Sagna. “It was nice to react that way. We started well and we won our duels. We did a good job of making things difficult for them. It’s good for the future.”
The Bleu-blanc-noir will now have a week off due to the international break, which means the Impact will only be in action in two weeks from now on Saturday, March 30, to take on Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park at 3pm EDT (TVA Sports, TSN, CTV, 98.5, TSN 690).
