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Former Ivory Coast international and Chelsea legend Didier Drogba may be 37 years old, but that doesn‘t mean he isn’t capable of lighting up the football pitch. And he did just that as his first hat-trick in the MLS helped Montreal Impact beat Chicago Fire 4-3 on Saturday night.
It was Drogba’s first start since he made the move to the MLS and only his second game. His previous appearance was as a substitute but he made history last night by becoming the first player to net a hat-trick in his first start in the MLS and the only player to do it in his first two games.
The striker had opened the scoring in the 27th minute when a cross from the right flank found him in the box. Drogba, with his back to goal, collected the ball and turned on the spot before quickly toe-poking the ball past the goalkeeper into the bottom corner.
His second of the night was an equalizer which came when Impact were down 3-2 in the second half. In the 61st minute, he had the ball at his feet inside the box and fired a shot that rifled the top corner of the net. It was a rallying cry from the big Ivorian who collected the ball and jogged back to the centre circle, firing up the crowd and his teammates as they looked for a win.
Sure enough, Drogba delivered again just four minutes later. Another dangerous cross from the right saw Drogba volley it straight at the goalkeeper. the keeper parried the shot which saw the ball rise up in the air in front of goal. Drogba was first to it as the goalkeeper lost his footing and fell backwards over the line with the Ivorian simply nudging the ball over the line with his head while in the air from barely two feet away from the line.
Whats ironic is that it was the Chicago Fire who had tried to sign Drogba earlier this summer but eventually traded his rights to Montreal. Ouch!
