Nani scores 100th career goal as Orlando City tops Montreal

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:22 am

Nani converted a penalty kick for his 100th career goal, and a pair of Canadians also scored for visiting Orlando City SC, which snapped a four-game losing streak to the Montreal Impact with a 3-0 victory on Saturday.

With the win, Orlando City (5-7-3) halted an 0-5-1 rut against the Impact, who won 3-1 at Orlando on March 16. In posting its third clean sheet of the season, Orlando has won two of three following a three-match losing streak.

The Impact (7-7-3), meanwhile, are 2-4-1 since winning back-to-back matches to conclude the month of April. They managed nine overall shots for the game, but only one on target.

After Montreal's Zakaria Diallo was whistled for a somewhat questionable hand ball in the box, Nani came through from the spot in the 27th minute for his milestone score. It was the eighth goal of the season for the Portuguese star, who actually missed a penalty kick in each of the previous two matches.

Orlando then went ahead 2-0 in the 36th minute, when Canadian Tesho Akindele scored his fifth goal of 2019 off some nifty passing with Chris Mueller and Cristian Higuita. And City still was not done in the first half, as Toronto native Will Johnson put home a bounced header off a deflected cross from Joao Moutinho at 42 minutes.

Orlando City's first-half showing stunned the Impact crowd, which directed boos at the home side heading into halftime and at the final whistle. Montreal showed signs of life in the second half with more pressure in the final third but was unable to break through.

These sides were each minus a key offensive contributor on Saturday.

Montreal star Ignacio Piatti (three goals in five 2019 games), who recorded a brace at Orlando in March, is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks with a knee issue. Meanwhile, Orlando's Dom Dwyer (four goals) was not available because of a hamstring injury, according to the Orlando Sentinel.