CONTEXT
> It will be the second meeting in 10 days between these two teams.
> De Santis’ squad suffered its first loss of the season last Friday, July 29, by a score of 2-1 in Atlanta. Defender Gabriel Gervais scored the Impact’s lone goal.
> Less than 24 hours after suffering its first loss of the season in Atlanta, the Impact rebounded by beating the Charleston Battery (7-11-3) 1-0, Saturday, July 30 at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston. Midfielder Masahiro Fukasawa scored the game-winner, his first goal of the season, on a pass by Zé Roberto at the 64th minute.
> The Impact is the best defensive team in the league, having allowed only nine goals since the start of the season.
> The Impact is alone in first place with 38 points, three ahead of the second-place Richmond Kickers. Montreal has four games in hand.
IMPACT VS ATLANTA
> The Impact has a lifetime record of 14-3-0 against Atlanta since its arrival into the league in 1995.
> This is the second and final meeting between these two teams this season.
> Last year, the Impact shut out the Silverbacks in three games played. On May 1, 2004, the Impact blanked the Silverbacks 2-0 in Atlanta. Forward Fred Commodore scored both goals. On July 24, 2004, De Santis’ squad disposed of Atlanta 1-0 after midfielder Patrick Leduc converted a penalty kick. Finally, on August 22 of last year in Montreal, the Impact won 1-0 on a goal by Yuri Lavrynenko.
> Before Saturday’s game in Rochester, Atlanta had allowed 34 goals against in 20 games played.
> Midfielder Fabian Dawkins leads the Silverbacks in goals (11) and points (24). Before the weekend, he led the league in goals scored and was in second place in the scoring race.
NOTES
> Greg Sutton’s win over Charleston was the 59th of his career in an Impact uniform. He is now only one victory away from equaling the club record of 60 career victories held by Paolo Ceccarelli.
> Friday July 29, against Atlanta, Sutton became the first-ever Impact goalkeeper to reach the total of 10,000 minutes played with the team. Now in his fifth season with Montreal, he has played a total of 10,149 minutes.
> Following the departure of forward Ali Gerba, captain Mauro Biello has become the Impact’s leading scorer (5-3-13), and before this weekend’s games he sat in ninth place in league scoring.
> He has accumulated 19,793 career minutes played with the Impact and will soon become the first-ever Impact player to hit the 20,000-minute mark.
> The Montreal Impact announced, Monday, the signing of forwards Joel Bailey and Charles Gbeke, as well as midfielder David DiPlacido and defender André Hainault, before the August 1st roster freeze. Gbeke, DiPlacido and Hainault will be available for the game.
> Defender Nevio Pizzolitto will not be available for the game against the Silverbacks. He is serving a one game suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
> Forward Eduardo Sebrango has missed all seven games played over the month of July with a fractured bone in his right foot. He suffered the injury on June 30, in a 1-0 victory over the Timbers in Portland. He is expected to return mid-August.
COMMENTS
Impact head coach Nick De Santis: “We had some time to recover from last weekend where we played two games in less than 24 hours. In the first of those games, against Atlanta, we weren’t ready to suffer. This time, we have to be more disciplined defensively and we must remain focused when we walk out onto the field; something we did well in the second game against Charleston. We will be playing eight home games in a 24-day stretch, so we want to start off on the right foot."
Gabriel Gervais: “We absolutely want to rebound against Atlanta and win the game. Sunday, we are going to show our true colors, especially in front of our home fans. The last time we met, we didn’t play our game. This time we will walk out onto the field mentally prepared with the right attitude. We will do everything we can to remain in first place.”
NEXT GAME
> The Impact hosts the Portland Timbers, Wednesday, at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex (7:30 pm, CKAC).
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Source: Patrick Vallée
Info: 514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
