Montreal Impact Beat Red Bulls, 3-1
MONTREAL (AP) — Marco Di Vaio got his first MLS goal early in the second half and Davy Arnaud scored two minutes later to lead the Montreal Impact to a 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night.
Sanna Nyassi also scored for Montreal (8-13-3), which had lost its first two meetings with the Red Bulls.
Thierry Henry scored his 11th of the season in the 57th minute for New York (11-6-5).
Former AC Milan defender Alessandro Nesta made his MLS debut for the Impact and received a rousing ovation when he touched the ball for the first time. The 36-year-old didn't disappoint as he took charge of the defense while shadowing New York's Henry.
Nesta's debut drew 19,441 for Saputo Stadium's first sellout since the expanded stadium reopened in June.
Di Vaio got the Impact on the scoreboard in the 48th minute, scoring in his eighth MLS match. Felipe Martins, who had three assists, slid a pass to Justin Mapp, who slipped the ball to Di Vaio on the left side, giving the veteran time to tee up and fire a low shot past Bill Gaudette for the opening goal.
Arnaud made it 2-0 in the 50th as Martins send Arnaud in alone to score on a low shot.
Henry eluded Nesta with the Impact calling for an offside call and got the ball alone on the right side to flip over Donovan Ricketts.
Nyassi sealed the win with his fourth goal in the 75th minute after he took a pass from DiVaio and converted from the left side.
Both teams had chances in the first half. Ricketts bobbled Henry's free kick and saw Markus Holgersson shoot the rebound over the bar in the 12th minute.
Gaudette, who played for Montreal in the NASL last season, stopped Mapp in alone and later blocked a point blank attempt from Arnaud.
The best chance went to New York's scoring ace Kenny Cooper, who forced Ricketts into a diving save off a corner kick in the 34th minute.
New York's Dax McCarty received his fifth yellow card and will sit out the Red Bulls' next match at Houston.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
