By BRYAN ROBISON
There was no late match heroics for San Jose this time around, as they built themselves too big of a hole to come back from thanks to a two goal defecit. After falling behind early, Montreal charged back, scoring three unanswered goals, and winning their fourth consecutive home match 3-1 at Stade Saputo on Saturday.
After an expected rough start to their debut season, the Impact have come on strongly in the second half of the year, specifically at home. Since switching over to Stade Saputo for their home matches in June, Montreal is 7-2. They now sit in a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings with DC United. However, United does have five games in hand on the Impact.
With a trio of goals from Marco Di Vaio, Lamar Neagle, and Patrice Bernier, Montreal was able to take it to the Western Conference leading Earthquakes.
The Impact fell down early, as Golden Boot leader Chris Wondolowski put the Earthquakes up with a 23rd minute penalty kick. The goal was Wondolowski's eighteenth on the season, but his first since a July 14th hat trick.
The penalty kick came from a major altercation between San Jose's Steven Lenhart and Montreal's Hassoun Camara. After a scuffle inside the box, the referees deliberated for quite some time. In the end, referee Armando Villarreal gave a red card to both players, and awarded a penalty to San Jose.
From there, however, it was all Montreal. They responded quickly, as Di Vaio tied it up just two minutes later after falling behind. Two second half goals sealed the victory for the surging Impact.
They will look to extend their winning streak to five matches next Saturday against the aformentioned DC United at home. Meanwhile, San Jose will return home to take on the Colorado Rapids next Saturday.
Here are the match highlights:
Will Montreal make the playoffs in their first season? Will Chris Wondolowski return to his goal-scoring ways and break the MLS record of goals in a season? Share your thoughts below.