Montreal Impact relish first win of the season at Stade Saputo
The month of April has come and gone, and it was one to forget for the Impact, and for Montreal as a whole; the Bleu-blanc-noir went 0-4, and the weather in the city was horrid, as the weather conditions failed to reflect the changing of the seasons. But eight days into the month of May, the tides seem to be turning for both parties.
“The sun’s finally out, it’s beautiful,” said goalkeeper Evan Bush, greeting the media at Centre Nutrilait on Monday morning. “The sun is shining and I think it’s because we won. It’s like a metaphor for the feeling inside the building.”
There’s nothing quite like winning to lighten the mood, especially at home, in the Impact’s second game of the year at Stade Saputo. The players know how important it was to get the result in this game, to get back on track and gain some ground on their opponents in the standings.
“It’s not only good for our confidence, it’s good us in the league,” explained midfielder Saphir Taïder. “We needed these points to stay close to those ahead of us. We can’t get to excited just yet because it’s only a game. There are still a lot of games left with many points to be taken. We need to forget this win and shift our focus towards Wednesday’s game.”
That game is against the Chicago Fire, who currently sit a point behind the Impact in the standings but with one game in hand. It doesn’t give the team much time to relish Saturday’s victory, although they’ll be using that energy to prepare for the showdown in the Windy City.
“We know that we can’t just rest on one win,” added Bush. “It’s just one win. We need to take the positives and the confidence we got from that win and put it into Wednesday night, in a game where we should feel really good going into. If we approach it the right way, we should be able to get something out of it.”
The Impact will then come back home for a game against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, May 12, at 3pm (TICKETS – TVA Sports, CTV, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690). It’s a busy week of football for the team, with three games in eight days. Whether or not we’ll see any changes in the line-up remains unclear, although head coach Rémi Garde always said that his players should be ready, especially during busy weeks.
“It’s a long season, and there are moments when there are a lot of games to play,” said Garde. “In these moments, I need everyone. We are in the middle of a week when our depth on the bench will be very important. It’s always interesting for the group.”
