ESPN

MONTREAL -- Andres Romero and Marco Di Vaio scored in the second half, lifting the Montreal Impact to a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

Montreal (5-1-1) improved to 3-0-1 at home and won for the first time since beating visiting New York on March 23. The Impact lost 2-0 at Sporting Kansas City a week later and had a 1-1 home draw with Columbus on April 4 in MLS play, and lost 2-0 at Toronto on Wednesday night in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinals.

The Fire (2-5-1) dropped to 0-3-1 on the road.

Romero got his first MLS goal 57 minutes in as he took a ball on the left side, sidestepped Fire captain Logan Pause and sent the ball into the far top corner behind Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

With the Fire down a man in the 76th, Di Vaio controlled a chip pass from Daniele Paponi and, with his back to the goal, spun and fired a low shot inside the left post for his fourth of the season.

Fire midfielder Jeff Larentowicz was issued a red card for a reckless tackle on Paponi in the 64th and a skirmish erupted when Johnson then charged at Di Vaio to thwart a shot attempt. Both were cautioned.

The Impact showed their rust early as Chicago controlled the play and got chances from Gonzalo Segares, Patrick Nyarko and a long blast by Daniel Paladini that forced Troy Perkins to dive to his right.

Montreal picked up the pace midway through the first half as Paponi headed a Pisanu pass just over the bar in the 27th minute. Jeb Brovsky just missed the left post with a volley and Paponi hit another drive just wide.

Already hit with injuries in the central defense, the Impact saw veteran Alessandro Nesta leave in the 54th minute. French native Wandrille Lefevre, a product of the club's academy, saw his first MLS action. He was given an assist on Romero's goal and received a yellow card for a tackle from behind.

The Fire were without defenseman Wells Thompson, who served a one-game suspension for a reckless tackle against Columbus.

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Alex and midfielder Alvaro Fernandez each scored in the second half to lead the Chicago Fire a 3-1 comeback win over the Montreal Impact on Saturday night.

The win pulled the Fire (15-8-5) within a point of Eastern Conference leader Sporting Kansas City. Chicago has 50 points and third-place New York is right behind with 49.

Montreal (12-15-3), playing its first match in two weeks, dropped its second straight after winning five in a row.

Alex took a pass from Fernandez, split a pair of defenders and beat goalkeeper Troy Perkins to break a 1-all tie in the 61st minute. The Brazilian sent his shot over Perkins and high to the far corner of the net.

Fernandez followed with a 15-yard right-footed shot in the 80th to put the game out of reach. Sherjill MacDonald had tied the match with a nifty header in the 34th, redirecting a pass from Jalil Anibaba into the lower left corner of the net.

Marco Di Vaio gave Montreal a 1-0 lead in the 20th, his fourth straight match with a goal. He took defender Hassoun Camera's headed centering pass, flicked the ball forward and scored from about 12 yards out. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson fell to his right but could only get a fingertip on the ball.

MONTREAL -- Davy Arnaud scored the first Major League Soccer goal in Impact history, and Montreal tied the Chicago Fire 1-1 Saturday before a crowd of 58,912 at its home opener in Olympic Stadium.

Arnaud's goal in the 56th minute helped give the Impact (0-1-1) their first point since joining MLS as an expansion team this season. Dominic Oduro tied it in the 71st for the Fire, who were opening the season.

The Impact, who opened with a 2-0 loss at Vancouver last weekend, broke the previous record for attendance at a professional soccer match in Montreal. The Manic drew 58,542 for a North American Soccer League playoff game in 1981.

The Chicago Fire will appear on national television 13 times during the 2012 season which opens March 17 in the home opener for the expansion Montreal Impact.

This will mark the longest Major League Soccer season with the final played on Dec. 1. The season begins five days earlier than in 2011. Last year's final was Nov. 20.

With the expansion Impact giving the league 19 teams, MLS is switching to an unbalanced schedule while keeping the regular season at 34 games per team.

The Fire's home opener is March 24 at Toyota Park against the Philadelphia Union.

The Fire will appear on national broadcast partners NBC, NBC Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN Deportes and Galavision.

Just seven MLS games conflict with FIFA fixture dates, when many star players are away with national teams: Chicago at New England (June 1); Los Angeles at Columbus; Portland at Toronto and Houston at Vancouver (Aug. 15); Portland at Colorado (Sept. 5); Salt Lake at Houston (Sept. 6); and Chivas USA at Seattle (Sept. 8).

Any concerns over losing a portion of the Chicago Fire's roster were put to rest as the Montreal Impact made 10 selections outside of the Fire's unprotected player pool during Wednesday's MLS Expansion Draft.

Former Fire midfielder and Impact head coach Jesse Marsch inherits a franchise that selected former Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching with the top pick in the draft. Despite reports that Ching said he would retire if selected in the expansion draft, the Impact took him No. 1 anyway.

The Impact's third selection was former Fire midfielder Justin Mapp out of the Philadelphia Union. Mapp started in 24 of 29 games this past season, tallying three goals and four assists.

Chicago entered the expansion draft with a trio of defenders who had nine or more starts during the 2011 season -- right back Dan Gargan and center backs Josip Mikulic and Yamith Cuesta. But the Impact focused elsewhere and the Fire's roster stays intact heading into the offseason.

Last year the Fire lost midfielders John Thorrington and Peter Lowry in the expansion draft to the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers, respectively. They played a combined 14 games and did not log a goal or an assist during the 2011 season.

The Impact brings the league to 19 franchises for the 2012 campaign. On Wednesday, Montreal selected seven-year veteran defender/midfielder James Riley with its ninth pick, but then traded Riley to Chivas USA for forward Justin Braun and midfielder Gerson Mayen. The Impact took 20-year-old Chivas defender and 2011 first-round draft pick Zarek Valentin with its second selection in the expansion draft.

Impact's 2011 MLS Expansion Draft selections: 1. Brian Ching (F, Houston Dynamo); 2. Zarek Valentin (D, Chivas USA); 3. Justin Mapp (M, Philadelphia Union); 4. Bobby Burling (D, San Jose Earthquakes); 5. Jeb Brovsky (M, Vancouver Whitecaps); 6. Collen Warner (M, Real Salt Lake); 7. Josh Gardner (D, Columbus Crew); 8. Sanna Nyassi (M, Colorado Rapids); 9. James Riley* (D, Seattle Sounders); 10. Seth Sinovic (D, Sporting Kansas City)

* Traded to Chivas USA for Justin Braun and Gerson Mayen

The Chicago Fire and other Major League Soccer teams submitted their 11-player protected lists Monday in preparation for Wednesday's MLS Expansion Draft for the Montreal Impact.

Among some of the Fire's noteworthy players left unprotected are forward Diego Chaves, midfielder Daniel Paladini, and defenders Dan Gargan, Josip Mikulic and Yamith Cuesta.

Fire's 11-player protected list: Sean Johnson (GK), Cory Gibbs (D), Jalil Anibaba (D), Gonzalo Segares (D), Pavel Pardo (M), Logan Pause (M), Marco Pappa (M), Sebastian Grazzini (M), Orr Barouch (F), Patrick Nyarko (F/M), Dominic Oduro (F)

Unprotected list (available for Impact selection): Jon Conway (GK), Alec Dufty (GK), Yamith Cuesta (D), Dan Gargan (D), Steven Kinney (D), Josip Mikulic (D), Pari Pantazopoulos (D), Mike Banner (M), Michael Videira (M), Daniel Paladini M), Baggio Husidic (M), Cristian Nazarit (F), Gabriel Ferrari (F), Diego Chaves (F)

Exempt from selection (Generation adidas or homegrown status): Corben Bone (M), Kellen Gulley (F), Victor Pineda (M)

Impact head coach and former Fire midfielder Jesse Marsch certainly will have his share of player options to choose from.

Chaves came to the Fire with high expectations, but it is not too surprising that he was left unprotected heading into the expansion draft. Chaves had a good start and decent finish to the 2011 season with six goals. But Chaves went through a long goal-less stretch and saw his playing time dwindle.

Gargan was a key midseason acquisition for the Fire during the 2011 campaign, adding stability to a back line that was short on outside back options. His name typically was third on the midseason hierarchy mention, with midfielders Sebastian Grazzini and Pavel Pardo grabbing most of the attention. But Gargan filled the right back role quite well. His absence from the Fire's 11-man list probably stands out the most, so it would not be out of the question to see the 28-year-old Gargan bound for Montreal. Gargan has become a bit of an MLS journeyman since the Colorado Rapids drafted him in 2005.

There are a number of ways that Montreal could look upon the Fire's roster, and it appears that Chicago is most willing to part with someone on the defensive end. Along with Gargan, center backs Mikulic and Cuesta both posted plenty of starting minutes for the Fire this past season. The 22-year-old Cuesta had 18 starts and 1,681 minutes, and the 25-year-old Mikulic had 12 starts and 1,038 minutes.

Last year the Fire lost a pair of midfielders in John Thorrington (Vancouver Whitecaps) and Peter Lowry (Portland Timbers), and Montreal could go in that direction this year. Paladini is a viable option, having earned 16 starts this year for Chicago. University of Illinois-Chicago product and 2009 draft pick Baggio Husidic also was left unprotected. The third-year midfielder is coming off a season that included zero goals and two assists, but Montreal might see some potential if Husidic returned to the five-goal, three-assist performance that he logged in 2010.