Montreal remains third in the East
HARRISON, New Jersey – The Montreal Impact will play a second game in five days, this Wednesday at 8pm at Red Bull Arena, against the New York Red Bulls (TVA Sports, 98.5, TSN 690).
“The Red Bulls modified their system of play over the last two games, while still keeping their principles, which are to press at all times high up the pitch, always looking to regain possession,” said Impact head coach Rémi Garde. “We need to adapt, because we don’t want to get caught in their game plan. Their start to the season isn’t what we expected, and they’re better than where they are in the standings. We’re aware. We need to be mentally prepared for a battle.”
A difficult venue for the Impact
New Jersey isn’t the most welcoming state for the Impact, who’s never returned with a point in nine regular season games since 2012 (0-9-0), despite managing a 2-1 victory in the 2016 MLS Cup playoffs. Montreal is on a good streak away from home, however, having kept a clean sheet for 123 minutes on the road.
Midfielder Samuel Piette, if he plays at least 50 minutes against the Red Bulls, will reach the cap of 5,000 minutes played with the Impact, while head coach Rémi Garde aims for his 20th win with the Montreal club.
“Anyone can beat anyone in this league,” said Piette. “Obviously, New York is a good team and we lost there last year, but we’ve proven this year that we can compete against anyone. We’re confident for tomorrow and we’ve been good on the road. We’ve still maintained the same mentality we employed when we had a bunch of road games, so I think it’ll benefit us against the Red Bulls.”
Red Bulls finding their wings
After a slow start to the season for New York, who also featured in the Concacaf Champions League earlier this year, Chris Armas’ men have won two consecutive games for the first time this season. Striker and Designated Player Bradley Wright-Phillips, however, remains uncertain for the Impact’s visit, having also missed the game against the Galaxy last Saturday. Midfielder Florian Valot is unavailable for the midweek fixture.
“They have a lot of guys with high character,” said goalkeeper Evan Bush. “They haven’t been at their best, and they’re finding ways to get themselves motivated, and they’ve certainly looked like it recently. We’ll go into the game and focus on the form they’ve had in the past week, as opposed to the points they’ve gathered until now. It’s going to be a tough test, and we know that. It always is when we go there, and we’ll have to be ready for it.”
Upcoming games
The Impact continues its busy week this Saturday, at 1pm, when it will face FC Cincinnati for the first time at Nippert Stadium (TVA Sports, TSN, 98.5, TSN 690). Montreal will then be back at Stade Saputo on Saturday, May 18, at 1pm, to take on the New England Revolution (TICKETS – TVA Sports, 98.5, TSN 690).
