Sep 07 Impact Wins Convincingly Against Portland 2-0 At Saputo Stadium - Are in Sole Possession of 5th Place

The math has been done and the result is, in order to eliminate any tie breaking rules, the Impact needs to win 3 of their remaining 5 games of the regular season. They were given the opportunity tonight to face a team that was below them in the USL standings, yet a team that they have not been able to defeat so far this year.

The Portland Timbers (7-10-10, 31 points) were in town to face off against the Impact (10-10-5, 35 points) in the last of 3 games between these two teams. While Portland won the previous two games 1-0 and 2-1, the Impact did out-shoot their opponents 32-18.

The Impact did not let this opportunity slip away, just before a western road trip and a potentially loaded schedule and took this contest in the first half and never looked back.

It took only 12 minutes for the Impact to set the tone for the game. It started with early pressure from the Impact in the Portland end which resulted in a near scoring chance when Peter Byers unleashed a bullet kick within a few yards of Timbers' 'keeper Chase Harrison but ended as a corner kick when the ball rebounded wildly off a Timbers defender. On the ensuing corner taken by Joey Gjertsen, once the ball was crossed, popped out of the scrum in front of Harrison and a one bouncer landed square on the boot of Leonardo Di Lorenzo who one timed it, top shelf, beating Harrison cleanly.

The Timbers were not able to mount much of a comeback and for a while it seemed as if the only vengeance they could muster was in the form of trips and fouls. The main culprit was Takayuki Suzuki who was given a chance by the ref when he body-checked Leonardo Di Lorenzo on an attempt for ball possession, but a few moments later, thinking he was immune to discipline, was assessed a yellow card when he mauled Cédric Joqueviel in the Impact zone, pleading his case the whole time.

With time running down on the clock, Peter Byers retrieved a loose ball on the Impact's side of midfield and deftly dribbled past not, one, not 2, but 3 Timbers players and once paste them, used his amazing speed to race in on Harrison and got a shot past the running Harrison to put the Impact up 2-0 on his 3rd goal of the season. " That was a powerful goal." said Byers after the match. "I score alot of goals that way because I have alot of power and use it to push my way through."

The Impact went off at the half up 2-0 and knowing they have yet to be unbeaten when they lead at the half, and have only been beaten once in their last 7 games. How's that for confidence?

The second half was naturally much more calculative by the Impact, concentrating more on ball possession and defense rather than offense.  Matt Jordan was up to any shots the Timbers had on net and was specially sharp on a corner kick play that saw the ball bounce high inside his 'keepers box where Jordan had to leap into a pile of players from both sides in order to capture the ball and stop the Timbers' attack.

Controversy hit again with regards to the Ref's unwillingness to call certain fouls inside the penalty area when, within the span of 5 minutes, both Félix Brillant and Peter Byers were both hauled down before getting a shot on net. Coach Limniatis, surprisingly, maintained composure and was able to finish the game with his team. When asked about the impact of this win and if they can now relax as far as clinching for a playoff spot, Limniatis responded "That word does not exist in our vocabulary. We will be playing to the best of our capabilities for every game that remains."

With this win, the Impact are now in sole possession of 5th place , 1 point ahead of the Charleston Battery, who play these same Timbers on September 11th.

NEXT GAMES
• Wednesday, September 10 – IMPACT @ Seattle – 10 pm 
• Saturday, September 13 – IMPACT @ Vancouver – 10 pm 
• Wednesday, September 17 – Joe Public FC (Trinidad & Tobago) @ IMPACT – 8 pm (CONCACAF) 
• Saturday, September 20 – IMPACT @ Minnesota – 10 pm 
• Sunday, September 21 – Puerto Rico @ IMPACT – 7:30 pm 
-End of the regular season-

GAME NOTES:

- Peter Byers was named Player of the match

- Matt Jordan recorded his 20th career win and 8th shut-out of the year, adding to the Impact's league leading stats of least goals conceded (9) and in goal-average allowed at 0.69 at home.

- Sandro Grande and David Testo were game time scratches. More to come.

- The extent of Roberto Brown's knee injury and duration of his absence is as of yet undetermined. More to come.

- Nevio Pizzolitto served his second game of a three game suspension for an elbowing infraction incurred during the Impact's last game against Carolina.

- Rocco Placentino and Severino Jefferson are both day to day with regards to their injuries.

- Earlier this week, Peter Byers was chosen United Soccer Leagues First Division Player of the Week (20th). It’s the second time this season that an Impact player receives this honor.

Tags: game \ Montreal Impact \ Portland timbers \ result \ saputo \ score \ soccer \ stadium \ USL