Didier Drogba scored his first goal of the Major League Soccer season with a clever backheel shot as the Montreal Impact snapped the Fire’s four-game unbeaten streak with a 2-1 win in Chicago on Saturday.
The former Chelsea striker, and all-time leading scorer of the Ivory Coast national team, was standing in the centre of the box with his back to the goal when he redirected the ball into the bottom left corner.
Drogba’s 56th-minute strike levelled the score at 1-1. The 38-year-old forward’s goal came hours after Chelsea, for whom he scored 104 goals in 254 Premier League matches, failed to find the back of the net in a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.
Ignacio Piatti then grabbed the game-winner in the first minute of stoppage time, giving Montreal their second straight victory.
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“It was a difficult game for us in the first half, but the second half was much better,” Impact coach Mauro Biello said. “We were able to unbalance them. We grew as a team, and we were patient enough to move the ball and find those openings. This was a character win.”
Making just his second appearance of the season, Drogba came on in the 50th minute for Costa Rica’s Johan Venegas.
“In the second half, we played with more rhythm and created more chances,” said Drogba, a two-time African Footblaler of the Year. “We wanted to pull off a great result here. We wanted to win.
“We’re top of the conference, and we have to show more ambition on the road. This win does us a lot of good.”
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OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale