MONTREAL – Donny Toia’s first MLS tally and a Dominic Oduro stoppage-time goal gave the Montreal Impact a composed 2-0 win over Orlando City SC Saturday night at Stade Saputo.
Led by a brilliant Laurent Ciman, Montreal kept their second clean sheet of the MLS season as they snapped Orlando’s five-game undefeated streak. With the win, the Impact (5-5-2, 17 pts) temporarily move into fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Orlando City (5-6-5, 20 pts) stay put in third place.
The Impact took their lead in the 36th minute on a corner kick that Marco Donadel placed to the near post, to Tally Hall’s left. Toia outran Brek Shea and got past Darwin Ceren, who effectively shielded him from Shea. Toia's glancing, angled header flew just above Hall’s head and into the net.
Oduro added his second late in second-half stoppage time. Running at Seb Hines, Oduro tried to cut the ball back to an onrushing Nigel Reo-Coker. Hines got a touch on the ball, but Oduro pounced on it and finished low into the opposite side netting.
Before conceding, Orlando had threatened Evan Bush’s net on several occasions, mostly through Canada forward Cyle Larin. The game was only three minutes old when Rafael Ramos sent in a cross between Montreal center backs Bakary Soumare and Laurent Ciman, but Larin headed just wide. Four minutes later, a Brek Shea cross from the other side found Larin. He sidefooted the ball over the frame.
But Montreal found opportunities of their own – and in a departure from their 2014 season, on set plays. Tally Hall pulled off a Save of the Week candidate when a cleared corner kick fell for Ignacio Piatti: Hall got down superbly to his right and deflected Piatti’s low drive to the bottom left corner behind for another corner kick. Three minutes later, Toia would open the scoring.
Orlando suffered a blow shortly after the break when Aurélien Collin came off with an apparent hamstring injury. But they didn’t concede a second despite a number of fine counters, and they kept the pressure on at the other end.
Larin missed another chance nine minutes after halftime, picking up a short Lewis Neal pass in the middle of the penalty area, turning and shooting low, but wide. The introduction of Carlos Rivas brought instant energy to Orlando's attack, but his two 65th-minute shots were the Lions’ last until the 87th. The Lions created two more opportunities thereafter, but couldn’t beat Bush.
Midweek action awaits both teams this Wednesday. On Quebec’s National Holiday, Montreal travel to archrivals Toronto FC, while the Lions host the Colorado Rapids.
