Villalba, Larentowicz leads Atlanta United past Impact

Hector Villalba and Jeff Larentowicz scored goals for Atlanta United, who stayed red hot at home with a 2-0 win over the Montreal Impact on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The United extended their unbeaten streak at home to 11 games and improved to 4-0-1 on their new pitch. Atlanta has outscored its first five opponents at Mercedes-Benz Stadium by a combined score of 19-3.

Atlanta United moved into third place on the Eastern Conference table and are poised to become the first expansion franchise to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs in their inaugural season since 2009.

Montreal has lost five of its last six games to drop below the red line on the Eastern table. The Impact, who are in seventh place, were coming off a 5-3 win over first-place Toronto FC, but failed to continue the momentum.

Villalba opened the scoring in the 28th minute. He took a pass from Carlos Carmona, found space outside the top of the Montreal box and buried a long-distance, right-footer past Impact keeper Evan Bush.

The United had two good chances in the 60th minute to extend the lead, but Bush made a diving save on a Villalba shot that came off a rebound from an in-tight shot by Josef Martinez.

Martinez, the reigning MLS Player of the Week, was held scoreless for the first time at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Larentowicz delivered the insurance goal in the 73rd minute, redirecting a pretty, left-to-right bending cross from Julian Gressel into the net to give United a 2-0 lead.

Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan recorded a clean-sheet with two saves.

The United outshot the Impact 15-3.

Bush had five saves for Montreal.

Atlanta will conclude its six-game homestand at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday when the Philadelphia Union visit.

Montreal returns home Wednesday to host New York City FC.