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Drogba, Impact stun Galaxy with stoppage-time winner

Photo by Eric Bolte/USA Today Sports
Photo by Eric Bolte/USA Today Sports

Didier Drogba’s pleasure proved to be Brian Rowe’s misfortune on Saturday night at Stade Saputo.

The Montreal Impact captured a last-second victory, 3-2, against the LA Galaxy courtesy of the Ivorian’s stoppage time goal in the 94th minute of play.

The goal, Drogba’s fifth of the season, came off of a free kick from distance, which Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Rowe had go through his hands and into the net.

Giovani dos Santos got the game going after just eight minutes, when the Galaxy attacker pounced on an Impact defensive lapse. Keeper Evan Bush and Maxim Tissot made a mess of a routine save, allowing Dos Santos to notch the 1-0 lead.

The Impact battled back though, scoring the game’s next two goals through Ignacio Piatti and Lucas Ontivero. The Impact’s advantage was short lived though, as Mike Magee scored just two minutes after Ontivero, in the 58th minute, to pull the match level at 2-2.

Both sides will be back in action this week, with the Impact facing Toronto FC in the Canadian Cup, while the Galaxy host a struggling Sporting KC on Thursday.

MAN OF THE MATCH

With eight goals on the year now, Ignacio Piatti‘s hot streak simply won’t end. The Argentine registered a goal and an assist on the night, and continues to be one of the engines that pushes the Impact along.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

It looked like both teams would get a share of the points on the night, but Didier Drogba’s second half finish in the dying minutes gave the Impact a victory and a share of the Eastern Conference lead.

MATCH TO FORGET

Brian Rowe‘s evening likely didn’t go as planned, particularly in stoppage time. The keeper allowed three goals overall, which ended with the 27-year-old spilling a routine save on Drogba’s game winner.

Comments

    • I disagree… Every keeper in the world has made an awful mistake. Bench Rowe for it, and you damage his confidence. Kennedy is not the long term solution for the club, and seems to have lost a step. Rowe has a bigger upside, and a better all-around game. He has been consistent, this error aside. Yes it was a big mistake, but Kennedy has allowed more goals from smaller mistakes-hesitation, lack of communication, etc. aArena does have a quick trigger for keepers though, so we’ll see.

      Reply
      • By what measure do you imagine “Kennedy seems to have lost a step?” Dude’s played 1.5 games for the Galaxy this year.

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