MONTREAL -- Montreal Impact goalkeeper
Evan Bush
put his own stamp all over his 25th MLS win.
Bush made five saves, including a huge stop on Houston's Abdoulie Mansally in the 86th minute, to lead Montreal to a 1-0 win against the Houston Dynamo at Stade Saputo on Saturday night.
The clean sheet was Bush and Montreal's first in eight games since a 0-0 tie against the Columbus Crew at MAPFRE Stadium on June 18.
"Yeah, it's been a while," Bush said. "We've had a lot of games where we've given up maybe one dumb goal in the game, and if you look at the last three games we've given up two goals but it was our first clean sheet in a while. So from that standpoint, we haven't been giving up a ton of goals lately, it's just that we've been giving up that one.
"And we haven't had the confidence to really shut down a game and get that clean sheet, and I think it was the same thing last year. We didn't have a lot of clean sheets at the start of the year and then we rattled off quite a bit at the end. So hopefully we can hit our stride the same way this year and put a few together here."
"Yes, it was important to have the clean sheet," said Montreal coach Mauro Biello. "I think it was a big win for us. It wasn't easy, a good team, organized, that didn't give us much space, that was very strong on the counterattack. Evan [Bush] had an excellent game. He made the key saves at the right times and we were able to hold onto the score."
Montreal captain Patrice Bernier agreed with Biello, noting the potential for a shutout to build confidence and momentum.
"It shows that we're able to stay strong all the way through," Bernier said. "And yeah, we conceded a few chances but you've got to give credit. For me, Evan Bush is the man of the match because he made tremendous saves at the beginning of the game, and the second half especially.
"For the team, I think it's the first time we win 1-0, it's our fourth clean sheet this season, so it's important for the confidence of the team defensively to show that we can dig deep and manage to keep these games tight and to keep a 1-0 lead, even though it's a tight lead, but to keep it all the way through."
With superstar striker Didier Drogba sitting out a one-game suspension, Matteo Mancosu made his first start and stepped up to provide the Impact with the only goal of the game.
Biello was asked about the potential of pairing Drogba and Mancosu up front.
"I think it could be a good option because Matteo, it's a different profile, someone that can get behind, and Didier holds up the ball well and we could have that balance between those two," Biello said. "Matteo's also played out wide and could be an option there, but in the end we'll keep working and trying to find the right formula. Right now we won, we want to move forward, a big game next weekend against New York and hopefully we can grow from here."
