Prior to his arrival in MLS, Ignacio Piatti toured his home country of Argentina, France and Italy. The Montreal Impact brought Piatti in as a replacement Designated Player for Hernan Bernardello. The agreement for the winger was signed in July, however he did not make the move to Canada until August. Montreal's new No. 10 made an instant impact. His first goal for the club came as a package of 2, scoring a brace against Columbus. His rocket of a left foot found his first in Major League Soccer. He also scored a goal in each of the next two games as the season wound down. His 4 goals in such a short time was an accurate preview for what was to come
In 2015, Piatti began the campaign with a goal against Orlando City. In August, he notched his first career MLS brace in a 3-2 win over NYCFC. The captain used a nifty chip to score the first of two. He capped the regular season off with the lone goal in a victory in New England. It was an incredible solo goal with a curler into the top right. After the Impact finished dead last in the East in 2014, they mustered a third place finish in the following year. A Canadian Classique was set up in the knockout round, in which Piatti scored a goal off a giveaway and assisted. The win advanced them to the next round, though the Columbus Crew proved to be too much to handle in leg two. Montreal also made a run in the CONCACAF Champions League, but lost in the final.
The 2015 tallies of 9 goals and 8 assists were decent numbers, but Piatti reached a whole different level across the next three seasons, becoming one of the stars of MLS. On the opening day of the 2016 campaign, he put two past Vancouver. He dribbled half of the Whitecaps team for the first, before calmly pushing one in at the back post. In game two, he scored on the counter against the Red Bulls. In just the first pair of games, he amassed 3 goals and 2 assists. During a wild 4-4 draw in Columbus, Nacho scored another double. A pretty turn and curled strike equalized the match at one. After going down 4-1, he pulled the game back within a goal. In the middle of the season, he found goals in four consecutive games, including one in a 3-2 win at Stade Saputo. He scored both of the Montreal goals in a 2-2 draw with Toronto. The Impact returned to the postseason as the fifth seed. In the knockout round, he scored to defeat DC United. A two-goal leg two against RBNY put them through to the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite the eventual loss to Toronto, he scored in that series as well. His contributions earned him a spot on the MLS Best XI and All-Star team.
Piatti's 17 goals and 6 assists were so nice that he did it again in 2017. His statistics were literally identical two years in a row. His first of the year came against Seattle in March, rounding Stefan Frei. In a 4-1 clobbering of Portland, he stuck his name on the scoresheet on two occasions. In August, Ignacio scored a brace in two straight games. The first was a 3-0 win over Chicago. He scooped the ball over the goalkeeper to open the match. Next was a 3-1 victory over Real Salt Lake. Piatti placed one of them carefully into the side netting. In a chaotic rivalry win against Toronto FC, Piatti scored 2 more, while assisting 2 others. The opener was one of the strangest goals of his career, as he jumped and turned to block a clearance, deflecting it into the goal. A strike with a shocking amount of power found its way in later on. This time around, his efforts were not enough to get Montreal into the playoffs. He made the 2017 MLS All-Star team.
Piatti made his third straight All-Star appearance through his 2018 contributions. He also returned to the Best XI. While scoring one less goal than the previous two seasons, he increased his assist numbers to a career-high 13. In April, the Impact hosted LAFC. They lost 5-3, but the story of the match for Montreal was a Piatti hat trick, the first of his career. An always rising shot off a rebound marked his first of the day. He proceeded to convert calmly from the spot and volley the third home before the first half had expired. Two matches later, he assisted 3 goals in one game with New England. He scored a brace on Orlando City in June with tight control. To finish up another standout individual campaign, Nacho put two more past TFC. The first was a penalty kick, the second was a pick-pocket and tap into an empty net. His team, though, missed the playoffs again by slim margins.
In 2019, Ignacio Piatti ended his Montreal Impact career, with a bittersweet season. He continued to terrorize Orlando, scoring twice against them in March. In May, though, he suffered a knee injury that kept him off the pitch until mid-summer. At that point, his main goal seemed to be bringing silverware to Montreal. He succeeded in that, as Montreal won the 2019 Canadian Championship. He scored his last ever goal for the club in the first leg against Toronto FC, before taking the trophy in penalties of leg two. The final goal of his MTL was a poetic screamer from long range. Piatti won the George Gross Memorial Trophy, for being the best player in the tournament. In the MLS season, he only scored one other goal in his extremely limited minutes. On October 6, 2019, Piatti played his last ever match in Montreal. His contract was mutually terminated in 2020. He went on to play for San Lorenzo and Racing Club before calling it quits. Piatti remains the all-time leading scorer in the history of the club with 79, and it will stay that way for a very long time. For these contributions, he ranks at #15.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2019 | MTL | 757 | 3 | 1 |
2018 | MTL | 2,821 | 16 | 13 |
2017 | MTL | 2,368 | 17 | 6 |
2016 | MTL | 2,818 | 17 | 6 |
2015 | MTL | 2,213 | 9 | 8 |
2014 | MTL | 450 | 4 | 1 |
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