The game in 100 words (or less): Drogba. Drogba. Drogba. I considered writing the name of Didier Drogba 100 times in this space, but he didn’t score 100 goals in the Montreal Impact’s 4-3 victory over the Chicago Fire, the team that tried to sign Drogba this summer before he eventually landed with the Impact. Sadly, the Chelsea and Ivory Coast legend only scored three on the night to become the first player in Major League Soccer history to bag a hat trick within his first two games. Fitting that a player of his quality and resumé would be the one to do it, isn’t it? To be clear, it wasn’t all rosy for L’Impact, who were an unmitigated defensive disaster without Defender of the Year candidate Laurent Ciman (international duty). The Fire scored thee incredibly soft goals, which is a worrying sign for an Impact side currently playing for their playoff lives. Ciman won’t be back for two more games, either, as he serves a two-game suspension. (The Fire defense was even more dysfunctional, but an amazing performance by Sean Johnson limited the damage to four.)
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Three moments that mattered
27' — Drogba bags his first MLS goal — Didier Drogba: certified beast. So what if he’s legend is 37 years old? This man could (and maybe will) score goals well into his 40s. For now, let’s just admire the way he shrugs off Eric Gehrig’s full-body challenge, and the silky-smooth touch, turn and finish (WATCH HERE).
61' — Drogba gets no. 2, equalizes at 3-3 — Again, say it with me, “So what if he’s 37 years old? Drogba is going to score buckets and buckets of goals in MLS.” The league is simply more fun with arguably the best striker of his generation playing in it.
65' — Drogba gets his hat trick, Stade Saputo nearly explodes — This is the Impact’s fourth season in MLS, and I struggle to recall a time when Stade Saputo lost its collective mind as we saw following the completion of Drogba’s hat trick. This is what the right signing in the right place can do.
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Man of the match: Didier Drogba. Didier Drogba. Didier Drogba.
Goalscorers: Drogba (27', 61', 65'), Larentowicz (PK - 36'), Lefevre (42'), Gilberto (44'), Igboananike (59')