Up Against a Stacked Deck
- Updated: September 9, 2013
Photo: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
It didn’t take long for the Revolution to figure out that the cards were stacked against them on Sunday. Literally.
An early red card to Matt Reis, along with a yellow card to Jose Gonclaves, set up a pair of first half penalties, which allowed the Montreal Impact to claim a 4-2 win over a shorthanded Revolution at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
Reis was sent off in the fifth minutes after he fouled Marco Di Vaion inside the box, which set up a Patrice Bernier strike from the spot. Bernier converted a second penalty in the 33rd minute after Goncalves was cautioned for fouling Felipe Martin inside the box, as well. Diego Fagundez briefly leveled it when he tallied in the 26th minute, but Di Vaio eventually scored in the 45+2 and 55th minutes. Kelyn Rowe capped the scoring with a 76th minute drive from distance.
Di Vaio drew the early penalty after he attempted to collect a through ball from Martins, but the Italian striker’s first touch let him down. But before the Di Vaio could try to reclaim it, Reis came off his line and tripped Di Vaio with his right arm. Referee Sorin Stoica pointed to the spot, and issued Reis a red card. Moments later, Bernier stepped up to send Bobby Shuttleworth the wrong way as the Impact opened the account in the 8th minute.
Even with 10 men, the Revolution looked dangerous midway through the first half, and got on the board when Fagundez put a pass just ahead of Dimitry Imbongo in the 26th minute. Jeb Brovsky poked the ball away at the last moment before it fell back to Fagundez, who sent it right into the net to level it.
It didn’t stay level for long. In the 32nd minute, Goncalves put his right leg in the path of Martins inside the 18, and the Montreal midfielder crashed to the turf as a result. Stoica once again pointed to the spot, and Goncalves could only watch as Bernier bagged his second penalty of the night in the 33rd minute.
Any hopes the Revolution had at reaching the interval within striking distance were dashed as soon as Di Vaio brought down a Hassoun Camara ball, and whipped it past Shuttleworth during first half stoppage time.
Di Vaio made it a brace in the 55th minute, when Camara once again found him inside the area. In a scene nearly identical to the one that featured his first goal of the evening, Di Vaio collected the ball, then cut inside and fired it through.
Undeterred, the Revolution continued to press ahead whenever possible. They saw their efforts rewarded when Saer Sene linked with Rowe, who blasted one of his trademark long-distance rockets under the bar in the 76th minute.
But that was the closest the hosts would get to besting their guests, as the Impact claimed their first road victory since Jun. 1 at Sporting K.C.
With the hard-luck loss in the rearview, the Revolution return to the road for a clash against the Chicago Fire on Saturday at Toyota Park.
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