Montreal Impact vs. New York Red Bulls | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Montreal Impact vs. New York Red Bulls
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 27
Stade Saputo — Montreal
Sept. 1 — 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: TVAS, ESPN+

After taking over the lead in the Supporters’ Shield race with a rotated lineup in a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo Wednesday, the New York Red Bulls will try to insure they finish Week 27 atop the standings with a win, while the Montreal Impact are trying to create some separation above the playoff line.

The Red Bulls won the first meeting of the season, 3-1, at Red Bull Arena on April 14. Jeisson Vargas canceled out Bradley Wright-Phillips opening goal, but Kaku and Michael Murillo scored after halftime to lift New York.

The Red Bulls have won five of the last seven regular season meetings with Montreal (2L). However, they have not won in Montreal since 2012, per Opta.

Montreal Impact

Montreal (10-14-3) conceded three goals inside the opening 29 minutes en route to a 3-1 Canadian Classique loss to Toronto FC at BMO Field on Saturday.

Sebastian Giovinco struck for a brace after 22 minutes and Jonathan Osorio added a third goal in the 29th minute to give the hosts a commanding 3-0 lead. Alejandro Silva pulled the visitors back a goal one minute later, but that was as close as the Impact could get.

“We must not forget the history of our season,” Impact manager Remi Garde said. “The difficult beginning and then why and how we have recovered, with what principles of play and with what state of mind in these principles of play. I think it's a few games away. It's been seven straight games that we're taking a goal. It's also significant. We were much more airtight. We has a lot of lessons to learn from that game and that's what I'm going to focus on this week.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Chris Duvall
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - David Choiniere (ankle surgery), D - Kyle Fisher (quad injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Evan Bush — Bacary Sagna, Rod Fanni, Rudy Camacho, Daniel Lovitz — Ken Krolicki, Samuel Piette, Micheal Azira — Alejandro Silva, Ignacio Piatti, Saphir Taider

Notes: Seven Impact players have made multiple successful crosses from open play in 2018. Despite appearing for Montreal only twice, Bacary Sagna is one of them, with three. … Since June 1, no team has earned more points at home than Montreal (6W-1L-1D).

New York Red Bulls

Chris Armas rotated six new starters from a 1-0 win on Sunday over D.C. United, but New York (17-6-4) still defeated the Dynamo, 1-0, Wednesday at Red Bull Arena. They stretched a season-long unbeaten streak to six games with their 10th one-goal win of the season.

Brian White, one of three players to earn his first MLS start, scored his first goal in the 55th minute, tapping in after Alex Muyl hustled for a sliding save at the end line before sending in the decisive cross.

“He just has a knack,” Armas said of White. “Guys like him, guys like [Bradley] Wright-Phillips, these guys know how to feel the movements, sniff the plays out around the goal. When you even talk about him, it's not the guy outside the box. He just knows how to show up at the right place, right time, and he works. He loves scoring.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: F - Bradley Wright-Phillips
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Florian Valot (torn left ACL), D - Kyle Duncan (torn right ACL), M - Vincent Bezecourt (MCL sprain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Luis Robles — Kemar Lawrence, Aaron Long, Tim Parker, Michael Murillo — Tyler Adams, Sean Davis — Marc Rzatkowski, Kaku, Danny Royer — Bradley Wright-Phillips

Notes: Connor Lade now has two games with 7+ tackles this season, making him just the fifth Red Bulls player with multiple such games in league play since his debut in 2012. … New York have won six road games this season (4L-3D), tied for their third-most ever in a season and two off the franchise record set in 2000.

All-Time Series

Overall: Montreal Impact 4 wins, 20 goals … New York Red Bulls 10 wins, 34 goals … 2 draws
At Montreal: Impact 4 wins, 12 goals … Red Bulls 1 win, 6 goals … 2 draws
Last meeting at Montreal: Montreal Impact 1, New York Red Bulls 0 (June 3, 2017)