Montreal Impact's Lamar Neagle (25) celebrates with teammate Patrice Bernier, right, after scoring against the San Jose Earthquakes' during second half MLS soccer action in Montreal, Saturday, August 18, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
August 18, 2012 - 9:41 PM
MONTREAL - Lamar Neagle and Patrice Bernier scored second-half goals and the Montreal Impact extended their winning streak to four games Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over the league-leading San Jose Earthquakes.
Neagle scored his second goal of the season to put Montreal (11-13-3) ahead 2-1 in the 61st minute. Both teams played most of the game with 10 aside, while San Jose ended with just nine men.
Bernier, who set up Neagle's tally, got his team-leading seventh goal on a penalty kick 73 minutes in. Marco Di Vaio scored Montreal's opener in the first half.
Earthquakes captain Chris Wondolowski scored his league-leading 18th goal on a penalty kick 23 minutes in to give the Earthquakes a short-lived 1-0 lead.
San Jose remains first overall in Major League Soccer and atop the Western Conference with a 14-6-5 record for 47 points.
It was the first and only meeting between the two teams this season, and both were down a man from the 21st minute.
San Jose's Steven Lenhart and Impact defender Hassoun Camara were both shown red cards in the first half after a flare-up inside the 18-yard box.
The Earthquakes were awarded a penalty after Camara struck Lenhart with a blow to the head, which got him ejected. Lenhart was also sent off for retaliating.
Wondolowski made no mistake as he pounded a shot past Perkins into the left side of the net.
Di Vaio drove to the net and slid in to finish off Felipe Martins' centering pass to draw the Impact even in the 25th minute.
Bernier set up Montreal's go-ahead goal with a pass back to Neagle, who drove a shot past San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch into the right side of the goal.
The Earthquakes lost another player after Jason Hernandez was given San Jose's second red card of the game 71 minutes in.
Bernier took the penalty after Di Vaio was hauled down by Hernandez. The native of Brossard, Que., hesitated as he approached the ball and calmly put a shot past Busch into the right side of the goal.
The Impact played to their second sold-out crowd in three games at Saputo Stadium, where they have won five in a row.
Impact defender Alessandro Nesta did not play because of a knee injury. Montreal's Nelson Rivas and San Jose's Alan Gordon each sat out because of one-game suspensions.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012