CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL – Marco Di Vaio scored his first Major League Soccer goal early in the second half and Davy Arnaud added another two minutes later as the Montreal Impact defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-1 on Saturday night.
Substitute Sanna Nyassi scored for Montreal (8-13-3), which had lost its first two meetings with the Red Bulls.
The sellout crowd of 19,441 at Saputo Stadium, mainly there to see former AC Milan defender Alessandro Nesta’s MLS debut, leapt to their feet and teammates mobbed Di Vaio after his goal in the 48th minute.
The former Bologna striker who is Montreal’s first designated player, finally scored in his eighth MLS match. Arnaud added his fourth of the year in the 50th while Nyassi got his fourth in the 75th minute.
Thierry Henry scored his 11th of the season in the 57th for New York (11-6-5).
Nesta was given a rousing ovation on his first touch of the ball. The 36-year-old didn’t disappoint as he took charge of the defence while shadowing New York star Henry.
The occasion saw the Impact sell out recently expanded Saputo Stadium for the first time since it re-opened in June. The facility will hold 20,341 when a section at the east end is completed later this year.
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.
Nesta’s long ball upfield set the second goal, as Felipe sent 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.
Di Vaio backfooted the ball to Felipe to feed Nyassi alone on the left side for the insurance goal.
The festive crowd saw a an entertaining but scoreless first half with glittering chances at both ends.
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.
But 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.
Montreal improved its home record to 7-3-2.
New York’s Dax McCarty saw his fifth yellow card and will sit out the next match at Houston. Montreal stays home to face Philadelphia next Saturday.