Victor Wanyama and Montreal Impact lost their third straight Major Soccer League (MLS) game after going down 1-0 to Orlando City SC on Sunday at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.
Daryl Dike scored the only goal of the encounter as Orlando City kept pace in the race for the third place in the Eastern Conference. The goal is Dikes’ third in as many games and his seventh of the season.
The goal, which Dike scored in the 39th minute, gave the Lions some great boost as they chase a place in the playoffs but it added more pressure on Wanyama and his teammates going into the final matchday.
The goal came as a result of a clever move by Mauricio Pereyra that broke Montreal Impact’s backline and got a good pass to Dike for the opener. Dike found himself through on goal and had an easy task of beating an isolated Clement Diop in goal.
The scoreline would have been huge had goalkeeper Diop failed to make key saves against the resilient opponents. Diop made four vital stops in the first half and two others in the second half when Tesho Akindele and Junior Urso were likely to score from counter-attacks.
Thierry Henry made two changes in an attempt to alter the scoreline just a few minutes after the half-time. The Frenchman sent Anthony Jackson-Hamel and midfielder Amar Sejdic for Jorge Corrales and Emanuel Maciel respectively but the duo had little impact.
Pedro Gallesse denied Montreal Impact an equaliser in the last stages of the game and the Peru goalkeeper was alert enough to deny Bojan Krkic a goal after he attempted to find the top corner with a fierce shot from outside the box in stoppage time.
Orlando City confirmed their victory despite having key stars Nani and Chris Mueller not available for the New Jersey trip.
Wanyama’s side remained above the playoffs line despite their fifth defeat in six games and was further saved by D.C United and Miami losses.
DC United will face off with Montreal Impact for the last matches for both sides on Sunday.