The Montreal Impact ended their five-game winless streak Saturday evening, as they simply outclassed Crystal Palace Baltimore, winning 5-0 at Paul Angelo Russo Stadium.
With the victory, Montreal leapt into the eighth and the final playoff spot in USSF Division 2, while Baltimore remain in tenth place, four points behind the Impact.
It took only 15 minutes for the visitors to get on the scoreboard, as Antonio Ribeiro played in Ali Gerba to give the Impact a quick 1-0 advantage. Nine minutes later, Eduardo Sebrango slotted one home past Evan Bush to give Montreal a 2-0 lead, and then almost had a second in the 34th when his strike slowly rolled and bounced off the left post.
Four minutes later though, Gerba added a second goal to his tally as he swooped through the Palace defence. One-on-one with Bush, Gerba calmly maneuvered around the Baltimore keeper and struck one into the empty net for a 3-0 lead.
The Cameroon native completed his hat trick one minute before the break, as he received a pass from Sebrango and beat Bush for Montreal's fourth goal of the night.
Baltimore added some fresh faces off the bench in the second half, but nobody could stop Montreal's dominance.
In the 53rd, Montreal rounded off the goal fest with a strike from Ribeiro, sealing the three points and the 5-0 victory.
The five-goal defeat was Baltimore's worst home loss in franchise history. The lone bright spot for Baltimore in this match may have been the debut of Alan Sanchez, who replaced Tsuyoshi Yoshitake in the 72nd minute.
The former Real Maryland forward looked sharp in his 18 minutes on the field, creating some quality offensive opportunities, and getting a shot on target towards the end of the match.
Palace will look to get back on the winning track in their next match on August 29, as they travel to Portland to face the Timbers. Baltimore has defeated Portland twice this season, including a 1-0 win on May 13 at PGE Park. Kick off is scheduled for 9:00 pm Eastern.
Teams
Palace Baltimore - Bush, Robson, Pejic, Marshall, Healey (Lucio 45'), Yoshitake (Sanchez 72'), Lader, Mbuta, Fusilier (Nishimura 45'), Neto (Brooks 45'), Flores (Veeder 44')
Montreal - Jordan, Aaboubou, Braz, Pizzolitto, Billy (Pelletier 76'), Testo (Leduc 78'), Donatelli (Le Gall 67'), Ribeiro (Agourram 64'), DiLorenzo (Mayard 62'), Sebrango, Gerba
