With their 1-0 win at the Columbus Crew on Saturday, the Red Bulls have now conceded just twice in their last three games.
The backline, made up of Jamison Olave, Roy Miller, Markus Holgersson and Brandon Barklage (throw Heath Pearce into the mix) has made a significant improvement since the start of the season, finding some much needed chemistry that was lacking when they were surrendering plenty of goal scoring chances to opponents.
Schällibaum - "We have to learn to play like leaders"
That defensive success has been the foundation for New York’s four wins in their last five matches and the teams push up the Eastern Conference standings.
The Impact on the other hand has been at the top of the East all season long, thanks to some stingy defensive play.
The Impact has conceded just seven goals on eight matches this season, five of which have come on the road, and this despite injuries to Alessandro Nesta and Matteo Ferrari for significant periods.
Match preview: New York Red Bulls vs Montreal Impact, May 8 7:30pm ET
A lot of the credit has to go to Hassoun Camara and Jeb Brovsky, both of whom have played important minutes while the Italian central defenders were or continue rehabbing their injuries. They have played every minute of the team’s last four games played in just 11 days.
With powerful weapons up top in DP’s Marco Di Vaio for the road team and Thierry Henry for the home side, the winner of this game may come down to who’s backline bends first.
