By Canadian Press

Evan Bush, Impact beat Whitecaps to jump back into seventh in East

Aug 28, 2019 | 8:09 PM

MONTREAL — Evan Bush made six saves, including one from the penalty spot, as the Montreal Impact came from behind to defeat the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 on a rainy Wednesday night at Saputo Stadium.

Maximiliano Urruti and Doneil Henry, with an own goal, scored as Montreal (11-14-4) snapped a four-game winless skid in MLS and jumped back into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Yordy Reyna scored and missed a penalty for the last-place Whitecaps (6-14-9), who are all but eliminated from playoff contention with the loss. Maxime Crepeau, the former Impact academy product, made eight saves against his old club.

Both Vancouver and Montreal have five games remaining in the regular season.

It was the first homecoming for the 25-year-old Crepeau, from Greenfield Park, Que., but it was the veteran Bush who made the difference at the other end of the pitch.

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With Vancouver already leading 1-0 on Reyna’s 17th-minute opener, the visitors were awarded a penalty shot when Samuel Piette tackled Michaell Chirinos in the box in the 21st minute.

Bush dove right and denied Reyna from the spot, but the rebound went right to Tosaint Ricketts for the easy tap-in and it looked liked the ‘Caps had taken a 2-0 lead.

Referee Ismail Elfath went to the video replay and deemed both Ricketts and Bush were guilty of encroachment. Reyna re-took the penalty, went right again, and Bush shut the door a second time.

Bush’s teammates swarmed him as the 14,513 fans in the stands serenaded the Impact ‘keeper.

The home team was clearly energized by Bush’s heroics and they returned the favour by scoring twice in a two-minute span.

Urruti’s play in the wide areas led to the first goal in the 35th minute. The Argentine striker stripped Derick Cornelius of the ball down the sideline and fired a low cross into the box that went off Henry and in.

Urruti gave Montreal the 2-1 lead in the 37th on one of his game-high seven shots. A cross from Bacary Sagna narrowly missed Orji Okwonkwo before falling to Urruti, who chested the ball down and volleyed it into the far corner of the net from the edge of the six-yard box.

The ‘Caps had several big chances to go level in the second half.

In the 47th, Bush came charging out of his net to deny Vancouver’s Hwang In-Beom. The rebound fell to Chirinos but his shot was blocked on the goal-line by defender Daniel Lovitz.

Six minutes later, Chirinos was frustrated again when his header on the doorstep was stopped by Bush.

Nine minutes from time, Bush punched away Ali Adnan’s hard-shot free kick from 25 yards out to preserve his side’s one-goal lead.

Reyna put Vancouver on the board in the 17th minute against the run of play. Following intense pressure from Montreal to start the game, Reyna got on the end of Ricketts’ low cross for his sixth of the season.

Kelsey Patterson, The Canadian Press