MONTREAL IMPACT vs NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
STADE SAPUTO, Montreal, Que.
May 31, 2014 (WEEK 13, MLS Game #118)
7 p.m. ET (TSN2/RDS; CSN-NE)
The Montreal Impact have a real test ahead of them when they take on the hottest team in Major League Soccer as the New England Revolution come calling to Stade Saputo on Saturday evening. The Impact have just one league win on the season, coming off a 4-1 loss at the Colorado Rapids in league play, and a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Canadian Championship final at Toronto FC at midweek. The Revolution are riding a five-game winning streak, their longest in nearly a decade, following their 2-1 home win vs. D.C. United last weekend.
REFEREE: Silviu Petrescu. AR1 (bench): Daniel Belleau; AR2 (opposite): Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho; 4th: Mathieu Bourdeau
MLS Career: 81 games; FC/gm: 27.5; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 10; pens: 13
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: MTL: Matteo Ferrari, Hernan Bernardello - NE: Andy Dorman, A.J. Soares
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: NE: Jerry Bengtson (HON)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (5 meetings): Impact 3 wins, 7 goals - Revolution 2 wins, 5 goals - Ties 0
AT MONTREAL (3 meetings): Impact 1 win, 2 goals - Revolution 2 wins, 3 goals - Ties 0
RETURN MATCHES: 9/13: New England Revolution vs. Montreal Impact, 7:30 p.m. ET; 10/11: Montreal Impact vs. New England Revolution, 4 p.m. ET
LAST YEAR (MLS)
9/8: NE 2, MTL 4 (Fagundez 26; Rowe 76 - Bernier 8, 33; Di Vaio 47+, 55)
10/12: MTL 0, NE 1 (Goncalves 31)
- The Revolution have won on each of their last two trips to Stade Saputo - their only two victories in the all-time series; both victories have come by 1-0 scorelines.
- Montreal has won on both visits all-time to Gillette Stadium, including a 4-2 victory last Sept. 8 in their only visit to Foxborough.
- Coaches record: Frank Klopas vs. NE: P8 W3 L4 D1 | Jay Heaps vs. MTL: P5 W2 L3 D0
MONTREAL IMPACT
The Montreal Impact remained winless away from Stade Saputo, falling 4-1 to the Colorado Rapids on Saturday evening at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Impact are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 7 points from 11 games.
LAST MATCH
- The Rapids took the lead in the fourth minute when referee Chris Penso pointed to the spot after Montreal's Sanna Nyassi appeared to tug at Colorado striker Edson Buddle, and Dillon Powers converted yet another penalty kick for the Rapids.
- But the Rapids broke the game open in the second half. In the 54th minute, Kamani Hill cut in from the left side and sent a perfectly placed curling shot past Montreal goalkeeper Troy Perkins. Then four minutes later, O'Neill spectacularly sealed the match with a precise blast from just outside the penalty area.
- In the 84th, Powers turned around a defender and fired home a perfect low strike for his second goal of the game to send the sellout home crowd into a frenzy one more time.
- The Impact did pull a goal back in the 88th minute when Andres Romero raced in from the right touchline and hammered a rising drive into the goal.
- Impact head coach Frank Klopas made no changes to the team that reached a 1-1 draw with D.C. United at RFK Stadium.
- MONTREAL IMPACT (4-2-3-1): Troy Perkins - Hassoun Camara, Wandrille Lefevre, Heath Pearce, Jeb Brovsky - Patrice Bernier, Hernan Bernardello - Justin Mapp (Andres Romero 71), Felipe Martins (Marco Di Vaio 56), Sanna Nyassi (Issey Nakajima-Farran 24) - Jack McInerney.
TEAM NEWS
- The Impact remained winless away from Montreal with the heavy defeat in Colorado, one of two teams still without a road win, now 0-4-2 (San Jose is 0-3-1).
- "It's difficult to win if we give up four goals in a game. I felt the confidence with the group was good and we maintained that throughout the game," said Impact head coach Frank Klopas. "It just seems that things are very difficult for us now. Giving up soft goals is killing us right now."
- The Impact conceded a season-high four goals for the second time this season, the first in the 4-0 loss at Sporting KC on April 19. The Impact have the poorest defensive record in MLS, allowing an average of 2.00 goals per game through 11 matches.
- "Unfortunately we can't seem to catch a break," said Impact midfielder Patrice Bernier. "Over the last two weeks, we've played better than we have in a while and we have shown more solidarity. The score doesn't reflect the game. They scored on their chances, two from great shots outside the box and we didn't make the right plays at certain moments to keep us in the game."
- Andres Romero scored his second goal of the season, his first since April 5, one of three Impact players with two league goals for the club this season.
- After two games out of the team entirely, Marco Di Vaio was able to come on for the final 34 minutes, replacing Felipe.
- Issey Nakajima-Farran made his Impact debut, coming off the substitutes' bench when Sanna Nyassi was forced off after just 24 minutes with an ankle injury.
- On Wednesday, the Impact opened their Canadian Championship series against Toronto FC with a 1-1 draw in the first leg at BMO Field. Doneil Henry headed home a corner kick to give TFC the lead on 20 minutes, but Justin Mapp hit a stunning strike for the 73rd-minute equalizer.
- Here's the Impact team: Evan Bush; Karl W. Ouimette, Heath Pearce, Nelson Rivas (Wandrille Lefevre 3'), Hassoun Camara; Patrice Bernier (Calum Mallace 81'), Hernan Bernardello, Andres Romero, Felipe (Jack McInerney 46'), Justin Mapp; Marco Di Vaio
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution won their fifth game in a row, defeating D.C. United 2-1 on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution are in first place in the Eastern Conference with 23 points from 12 games.
LAST MATCH
- The Revolution took the lead in the 55th minute. Diego Fagundez created space, stepping into the box and parting the defense who were able to close in before he could get a shot on, but Mullins was right on the doorstep to punch home past United 'keeper Bill Hamid.
- United drew level in the 73rd minute when substitute Fabian Espindola buried a cross from Cristian Fernandez, the first goal scored against the Revolution at home in more than six hours.
- But the Revolution struck back just five minutes later when Teal Bunbury's low cross through the box was pushed off the line by Hamid, but right to the foot of Fagundez, who fired into the back of the net from the left side of the area.
- United finished the game a man down when Eddie Johnson was sent off by referee Juan Guzman for a serious foul.
- Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made two change to the team that strolled to a 5-3 victory against Philadelphia Union at PPL Park. Bobby Shuttleworth came back in between the posts in place of Brad Knighton, and Jose Goncalves returned to the back four for Darrius Barnes.
- NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-1-4-1): Bobby Shuttleworth - Andrew Farrell, A.J. Soares, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney - Andy Dorman - Teal Bunbury, Daigo Kobayashi (Kelyn Rowe 53), Lee Nguyen (Scott Caldwell 81), Diego Fagundez (Steve Neumann 88) - Patrick Mullins.
TEAM NEWS
- The Revolution extended their winning streak to five games with the victory, one shy of the club record set April 9-May 14, 2005. The current winning streak is the club's longest since that record run.
- When United hit for the equalizer, it was the first goal allowed by the Revolution at home this season, ending a 423-minute streak since conceding at Gillette Stadium.
- "You can win games different ways and I think we've shown a couple different varieties of ways, but in terms of tonight, an Eastern Conference game, when it starts to rain and you get a goal, give up a goal, where are the tough guys going to step up; And I think our guys did really well," said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps.
- Revolution striker Patrick Mullins became just the second rookie to score goals in four consecutive games when he netted the opening goal. The first: Damani Ralph, who scored in four consecutive games in 2003, on his way to single-season rookie record 11 goals with the Chicago Fire.
- "I think (Mullins) has a great awareness of where he needs to be, where the ball is. He never goes outside the 18, he finds really good spaces in there," said Heaps. "You have to have a knack for it, you can't just say, just go score goals. I think he's done it his whole life and he's just now finding he's good enough to do it at this level."
- Said Teal Bunbury: "The things that people aren't realizing for me, is his hold-up play, his movement. He's just creating a lot of havoc for defenses which don't go on the stats sheet. But, us players, we see that and that's more important to us than the goal scoring. The goals will come, I mean, they're coming for him now but, his movement, his hold up play, just all-around play is really extraordinary."
- Diego Fagundez made it three consecutive games with a goal, and now has four goals for the season. Over the current streak, Fagundez has four goals and two assists.
- "I think (Patrick) Mullins and I are working very well with each other - and you can even add Teal (Bunbury) in that. All three of us are working a lot better than in the beginning of the season," said Fagundez. "We are moving off the ball well and are making good runs. As long as we keep playing like this, more goals will come."
- Jose Goncalves returned to the starting lineup, his first appearance since April 12, playing the full match in central defense.
- "[It] was probably my toughest decision of the short season so far, because who do you take out? It's not an easy one," said Heaps. "The conversation was about what was going to be better for us tactically. It wasn't about just getting Jose back. I thought we needed a little uptick from some senior leadership because that's what he does so well."
