A pair of starters on either side of the New York Red Bulls-Montreal Impact Eastern Conference Semifinal were held out of training on Wednesday, as Red Bulls defender Kemar Lawrence and Impact striker Matteo Mancosu both missed their respective club’s practices ahead of Sunday’s Leg 2 (4 pm ET, ESPN, ESPN Deportes | TSN5, RDS in Canada).
Both players started and played the vast majority of Montreal’s 1-0 win against New York in Leg 1 at Stade Saputo last Sunday, with Mancosu scoring the lone goal and playing the full 90 and Lawrence subbing off in the 89th minute.
According to RDS’s Patrick Friolet, Mancosu left Wednesday’s training session with a hamstring injury, the extent of which is not yet clear.
New York Red Bulls’ club communications specialist Eric Giacometti tweeted that Lawrence’s absence was merely to give the Jamaican, who played 21 regular season games, an extra day off. Head coach Jesse Marsch said that Lawrence should be back in training on Thursday.
According to Giacometti, Red Bulls midfielder Daniel Royer did train on Wednesday and should be available for the weekend. Defender Ronald Zubar did not train due to a groin issue, with Marsch telling media that he’s hopeful that the reserve center back will be back in practice Thursday or Friday.
