Drogba, Piatti Impressive over Fire

BRIDGEVIEW, IL–Didier Drogba can still impress. The problem was some of the Fire players were probably too impressed by him. He scored the equalizer minutes after coming off the bench and Ignacio Piatti scored the match-winner in Montreal’s 2-1 over the Fire.

The Fire did take the lead after 29 minutes when Kennedy Igboananike curled a shot past Evan Bush. The Fire would take that lead into halftime.

However, Didier Drogba would come on in the 50th minute, and the Impact began to dominate. It didn’t help that an errant clearance by Matt Lampson went straight to Dominic Oduro who fed Drogba for the equalizer six minutes later. It was the first goal the Fire had conceded in 412 minutes of play.

“He didn’t create it, I created it for him,” said a repentant Lampson. “I pushed the ball away right in front of the net, that’s on me. One of our things, just like when we play Columbus with Kai Kamara, Orlando with Cyle Larin, with a big guy like that, you hone in on him, you plan differently than you do with other attackers. Honestly, I thought we neutralized him. That was a self-inflicted wound and he made us pay. He’s a great player, and he had a very good finish on it.”

Both teams pressed for a winner. The closest the Fire got was in the 76th minute when Alex Morrell had a shot denied by Evan Bush. It was just the second shot on target all match for the Fire.

Just as stoppage time began, Ignacio Piatti gave the visitors the points with a curler similar to Igboananike’s earlier.

Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic did not like how his team was not as mature and seemed to be too impressed with Drogba.

“For me what concerns me more is that we, like I said before, we weren’t mature in this game,” said Paunovic. “When Drogba came into this game we were impressed by him and that’s something I’m not happy about. He’s one of the best players in the world, a great guy and everything, but our team has to understand that we have to respect ourselves as we are respecting our opponents. And I don’t think we were on that page. I don’t think we were good. So, still that’s something that we have to learn and I believe for the next games the lesson we learned in this game will be improved.

“We don’t have to be impressed by him. If he comes, everybody talks about Drogba. He is a fantastic player and a fantastic guy personally, I love him but it’s the same thing, when you’re playing the game you have to respect yourself and give your best. I’m just thinking that, as I said before, we just have to be more mature.”

It was the return of Harry Shipp to Toyota Park since he was traded back in February. He played all 90 minutes and got a shot on goal on the day.

“It was good to see everyone,” said Shipp. “From the players to the support staff.  You get accustomed to seeing guys…you know it’s fine, I told them, sorry we needed to get the win.  It feels good for me and all accounts, I got to see them, I got to see old friends, and I got three points. It was good all around.”

The Fire’s next match will be in two weeks against DC United at Toyota Park. Kickoff is at 4pm on CSN Chicago.

SCORING SUMMARY:

CHI-Kennedy Igboananike (Gilberto) 29

MTL-Didier Drogba (Oduro) 56

MTL-Ignacio Piatti (Oduro) 91+

BOOKING SUMMARY:

None

CHICAGO FIRE (4-4-1-1):  #28-Matt Lampson; #13-Rodrigo Ramos, #16-Jonathan Campbell, #4-Johan Kappelhof, #5-Michael Harrington; #12-Arturo Alvarez (#2-Matt Polster 45), #26-Michael Stephens, #30-Razvan Cocis (C) (#21-Nick LaBrocca 78), #77-Kennedy Igboananike; #7-John Goossens (#29-Alex Morrell 58); #9-Gilberto

Subs not used:  #23-Patrick McLean, #66-Joao Meira, #3-Brandon Vincent, #15-Joey Calistri

MONTREAL IMPACT (4-2-3-1):  #1-Evan Bush; #6-Hassoun Camara, #36-Victor Cabrera (#5-Wandrille Lefevre 46+), #23-Laurent Ciman, #25-Donny Toia; #18-Kyle Bekker (#33-Marco Donadel 80), #29-Eric Alexander; #27-Johan Venegas (#11-Didier Drogba 50), #10-Ignacio Piatti (C), #14-Harry Shipp; #7-Dominic Oduro

Subs not used:  #22-Eric Kronberg, #16-Calum Mallace, #2-Ambroise Oyongo, #8-Patrice Bernier

TOTAL SHOTS:  CHI 10-14 MTL

SHOTS ON GOAL:  CHI 2-7 MTL

FOULS:  CHI 7-7 MTL

OFFSIDES:  CHI 3-1 MTL

CORNER KICKS:  CHI 6-10 MTL

SAVES:  CHI 5-1 MTL

Referee: Kevin Stott

Referee’s Assistants:  Peter Balciunas, Kyle Longville

4th Official:  Fotis Bazakos

Weather:  Sunny and 76º

Attendance:  14,509

Man of the Match:  Didier Drogba (MTL)