Ignacio Piatti, Saphir Taider lead Montreal Impact past the San Jose Earthquakes

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:29 am

Ignacio Piatti had a goal and an assist and Evan Bush had two saves to lead the Montreal Impact to a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night at Saputo Stadium in Montreal.

Saphir Taider also scored for Montreal, which moved to within one point of the fifth-place New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference. The Impact, who started the season with a 3-10-0 record, has won six of their last eight matches, five of them by shutout.

Andrew Tarbell had one save for San Jose, which remained winless in its last 10 MLS games. The Earthquakes, in last place in the Western Conference, haven't won a game since defeating Minnesota United, 3-1, at home on May 12.

Taider, a 26-year-old midfielder who is a member of the Algerian national team, gave Montreal a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute with his fourth goal of the season and third in three games. Taider was stationed in the middle of the penalty box when he received a crossing pass from Piatti and turned and rifled a left-footed shot inside the right post past a diving Tarbell.

Ignacio Piatti
Ignacio Piatti
Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

San Jose had a chance to tie it just before half-time with a pair of shots by midfielder Jahmir Hyka, both in the 43rd minute. The first attempt came from inside the left corner of the penalty box and was deflected wide by a diving Bush. The second came on the left edge of the six-yard box, but Bush came out to make a point-blank save.

Piatti, left open outside the middle of the penalty box, made it 2-0 in the 74th minute when he fired a shot off a pass from Alejandro Silva inside the right post for his 10th goal of the season. The 33-year-old midfielder from Argentina, recently named to the 2018 MLS All-Star squad, just missed scoring another goal in the 61st minute when his shot from the middle of the box rolled inches wide of the left post.