Saphir Taider's double leads the Montreal Impact past the Colorado Rapids

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Saphir Taider scored twice within two minutes in the second half as the Montreal Impact won at home 2-1 on Saturday for their fourth consecutive victory.

The Impact dominated the first half in terms of possession (67 percent), passing accuracy (92 percent to a respectable 81 percent for Colorado) and shots (9-0), but with Colorado packing the middle of the field defensively and playing so low, there was little room to maneuver and get dangerous shots on net.

By sitting back and packing the box, it was clear the Rapids intended to strike on the counter-attack, but their rare forays out of their own end resulted in passes that went awry, runs that fizzled to nothing and evidence of a Montreal team swift to recover and protect its own end.

Taider finally broke through the Rapids' back line in the 55th minute, making a run and finishing it off nicely through goalkeeper Tim Howard's legs after a pass from Alejandro Silva.

But Taider wasn't done. About 90 seconds later, he picked up a ball that trickled into the box after touches by Ignacio Piatti and Silva and tapped it past Howard for the 2-0 lead.

Dominique Badji, who entered for Colorado in the 50th minute to add some speed to a punchless counterattack, cut the lead in half in the 78th minute off a free kick that bounced around the box, tapping it past Evan Bush from just in front of the goal line.

The goal finally put some pressure on the Impact, who conceded for the first time in four games.

That, however, would be it for the Rapids. Though they played with more aggression and had more productive runs in the offensive end in the second half, the stats told the story for the game as much as the score, with Montreal possessing the ball 68 percent of the game, getting 11 corners to none for the Rapids, and outshooting Colorado 21-2, helping the Impact continue their march up the table.