Make that five straight at home for the Bleu-blanc-noir
It’s been a while since the Montreal Impact’s supporters have seen a loss at Stade Saputo. One would have to go all the way back to May 21, almost two months ago, when the Impact fell 1-0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Since then, the Bleu-blanc-noir has won five straight games at Stade Saputo, but even more impressive is that the team has allowed just one goal in that span, which came in its 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids.
“The supporters give us more strength of course,” said Impact head coach Rémi Garde. “But even more importantly, we play with more confidence offensively when we’re in front of our supporters, which allows us to create more chances and opportunities, but also hold on to the ball more easily.”
“I don’t know what makes us so good at Stade Saputo, but it needs to continue,” said defender Rudy Camacho. “We’re at home, in front of our supporters, and on top of that we aren’t conceding any goals, so it’s great.”
The Impact’s latest triumph against the San Jose Earthquakes was typical of the Bleu-blanc-noir at home as of late: control play, circulate the ball quickly, find ways to break through, and most importantly, give the opponent nothing. Montreal found a way to break the opponent’s last line of defense as early as the eighth minute, and San Jose was limited to just two shots on Evan Bush’s net.
“We were comfortable on the ball until the very end,” said midfielder Samuel Piette. “We didn’t put ourselves in any danger and we circulated the ball very quickly, especially in the second half. Defensively, it’s another clean sheet. It’s good for us, because we need to continue basing our play around our defensive performances.”
The win comes after a 3-0 midweek loss to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium, where the Impact rotated the line-up due to its heavy schedule in the month of July. With another midweek game coming against the Vancouver Whitecaps, this time in the Canadian Championship, it’s still unclear who will be in the starting 11 come Wednesday (TICKETS – canadasoccer.com, Yahoo Sports Canada, 98,5fm).
“We approach this game with a fresh state of mind, because it’s another competition, that the club and our supporters care about,” said Garde. “That being said, we’re also in the middle of very important games in MLS, so we’ll see how exactly we approach this game.”
