MONTREAL — Substitute Andres Romero scored in the 76th minute and Didier Drogba got his fifth goal in four starts to lift the Montreal Impact to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night.
The Impact (11-11-6) improved to 3-0-2 since Mauro Biello replaced Frank Klopas as head coach.
David Accam scored for the last-place Fire (7-17-6), who lost their fourth in a row despite a coaching change this week that saw Brian Bliss replace Canadian Frank Yallop.
Montreal went down a man for a third straight game after Laurent Ciman was shown his second yellow card of the game in the 90th minute.
He will be suspended for a home game Saturday against D.C. United, as will Romero, who got a yellow card for taking his shirt off after the winning goal.
The Fire did a tidy job of containing Drogba for most of the first half, but in the 39th minute, Nigel Reo-Coker swung wide on the right side and put in a cross. The former Chelsea star looked to throw down defender Jeff Larentowicz as he lunged forward to head it in but there was no call on his fifth goal in as many MLS games.
The Fire missed two glittering chances in the first half, as Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush just got a hand on the ball with Gilberto in alone in the 16th minute and Accam missed the net with a clear shot from just inside the area in the 33rd.
Chicago equalized in the 50th when defender Victor Cabrera was beaten on a long ball by Gilberto, whose shot was tipped up by Bush and Accam nodded it in from the doorstep.
Accam missed a chance at a go-ahead goal when he ran the Impact defence ragged but then chipped his shot over the bar.
Impact captain Patrice Bernier, celebrating his 36th birthday, was serenaded by the fans as he sat on the bench, but he got into his first game since Aug. 5 in the 62nd minute and, 12 minutes later, slid a pass behind the defence for Romero to go in alone and score in the 76th.
With Marco Donaldel (suspension) and Calum Mallace (foot injury) out, Reo-Coker and Kyle Bekker moved into the defensive midfield positions. Dilly Duka, who scored in a 3-0 win Saturday over New England, started in place of Romero, who came on in the 72nd minute.
Impact designated player Ignacio Piatti missed the game to attend to a family matter, which put Dominic Oduro into the starting 11.
The Fire announced that goalkeeper Sean Johnson (shoulder) and defender Eric Gehrig (foot) will miss the rest of the season. Backup Jon Busch started in goal.
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