MONTREAL - Ignacio Piatti scored late to give the Montreal Impact a 2-1 victory over the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS action on Wednesday.

Jack McInerney scored in the first half for the Impact (3-4-2), who have won three of their last four matches.

Pedro Morales scored for Vancouver (7-6-2) from the penalty spot late in the game.

With time winding down, Piatti scored his team-leading third goal of the season in the 83rd minute of play. Midfielder Andres Romero spotted Piatti's run in the box, and the Argentine made no mistake with a strike into the corner of the net.

Montreal extended its home win streak to three games — a first for the Impact since August 2012.

It looked like the teams would share the spoils when Vancouver's Morales scored from the penalty spot in the 80th minute, just six minutes after coming into the match as a substitute.

Jordan Harvey earned the penalty for Vancouver after Romero took him down on the edge of the box.

The Whitecaps have now lost three of their last four MLS games.

With an eye on this Saturday's Western Conference clash with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Vancouver's Craig Robinson sat several key players. Leading scorer Octavio Rivero and midfielders Gershon Koffie and Morales started on the bench.

Montreal took advantage of the depleted lineup quickly in the first half, scoring 14 minutes into the match.

When a failed clearance by Diego Rodriguez fell perfectly for Laurent Ciman, the Belgian defender volleyed the ball off the crossbar. McInerney buried the rebound from 12 yards out while goalkeeper David Ousted was still recovering from the initial strike.

The goal was Montreal's first versus Vancouver in four MLS meetings.

The Whitecaps came close to equalizing before halftime. Nicolas Mezquida's strike deflected off McInerney's head and wide in the 45th minute before Darren Mattocks rattled the post in first-half stoppage time.

Vancouver continued putting pressure on Montreal after the restart, but the visiting team never really challenged Impact 'keeper Evan Bush until Morales converted in the 80th.

Piatti almost doubled the Impact's lead in stoppage time, but Ousted snagged his chipped shot on the goal line.

Notes: The Impact play five more MLS matches in the next 23 days. … Vancouver is 2-1-1 all-time versus the Impact in league play. … Captain Patrice Bernier made his second start of the season for Montreal. … Vancouver only had two substitutions during the game because it made a roster change after submitting its lineup — Rodriguez played instead of Pa-Modou Kah.