Two wins out of three road games for the Bleu-blanc-noir in 2019
KANSAS CITY, Kansas – The Montreal Impact will continue its 2019 MLS regular season with a fourth consecutive game on the road, Saturday at 3pm EDT against Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park (TVA Sports, TSN, CTV, 98.5, TSN 690).
“I think we’ve shown a lot of good things so far and there’s a good foundation on which we can build,” said Impact head coach Rémi Garde. “Of course, this 15-day international break, with players gone all over the world, creates a lot of uncertainty in preparing for a high-level game. But there was also a group present here that worked really well on which I can rely.”
Back to league action after a weekend off
The Bleu-blanc-noir was off last weekend due to the international break, during which five Impact players represented their respective countries: defender Zachary Brault-Guillard and midfielder Samuel Piette both started in Canada’s 4-1 win over French Guiana; midfielder Saphir Taïder took part in Algeria’s 1-0 win over neighbouring Tunisia; full-back Daniel Lovitz came on in the second half for the United States in a 1-1 draw against Chile; finally, Orji Okwonkwo played all 90 minutes with Nigeria’s U23 team in the second round of qualifying for the U23 Africa Cup of Nations, helping the Super Eagles win the second leg 4-0.
“It’ll be a game where both teams will want to keep possession,” said midfielder Harry Novillo. “I think it’ll be a good game. They’ll have a small advantage because they’re at home, but we’ll try to play our game. We know what to expect. They’ll try to keep the ball and pressure high up the pitch to intimidate us, but we’re ready and we’ll play our best game possible.”
Piatti and Diallo unavailable
Two noteworthy absences for the Impact: midfielder Nacho Piatti, who suffered a knee injury, will be unavailable to head coach Rémi Garde, while defender Zakaria Diallo will serve his one-game suspension for the red card he received against Orlando.
In Kansas, Montreal has managed a respectable record over the years consisting of two wins, three losses, and a draw. In its last visit, the Impact came back home with a point following a 1-1 draw coming through a last-minute equalizer for the away side. On another note, the Impact is also now just four goals away from 1,000 scored in the regular season in its history.
“I think we have a system now that doesn’t rely as much on one guy,” said goalkeeper Evan Bush. “Obviously, Nacho is someone that we rely on a lot when he’s on the field, but I think we showed in some of the preseason games this year that we have other players who can fill in. He might not be able to do the exact job that Nacho did, but the system lends itself to being able to overcome stuff like this.”
Busy times for the hosts
Sporting Kansas City, on its end, is battling on two fronts, with the first leg of its Concacaf Champions League semi-final clash coming up on Thursday. SKC seems to be feeling the workload in the standings early this season, having accumulated four points after their first three games. They did, however, win their only MLS home game 2-0 over the Philadelphia Union.
Upcoming games
The Impact will play three games in eight days next week, starting with a trip to the Big Apple to face New York City FC on Saturday, April 6 at 1pm (TVA Sports, 98.5, TSN 690). Montreal will then visit D.C. United at Audi Field on Tuesday, April 9 at 8pm (TVA Sports) before playing its home opener on Saturday, April 13 at 1pm at Stade Saputo against the Columbus Crew SC (TICKETS – TVA Sports, 98.5, TSN 690).
