Another rivalry game for the Bleu-blanc-noir, this time against Columbus Crew SC
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Montreal Impact will play a third consecutive MLS game away from home, this Saturday at 7:30pm, against Columbus Crew SC, at MAPFRE Stadium, in Columbus (TVA Sports [pregame show at 7pm], 98,5fm [pregame show at 7:15pm], TSN Radio 690 [pregame show at 7pm]).
“It’s a game against an Eastern conference rival, a team that beat us at home,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We want to continue this good sequence of games and keep building on our performances. It will be important for us to take care of the ball when we take possession and eliminate the opposition's space. We know the importance of this MLS regular season game, but we are fully aware of the short recovery time we have for the Canadian Championship final on Tuesday.”
“They are a good team, with very good players,” continued Impact defender Hassoun Camara. “They are big players in the league, notably Higuaín, but others as well. We will have to be careful, remain compact and play a big game over there, as we want to do better than the draw last week in Orlando.”
Bleu-blanc-noir unbeaten in five
The Montreal squad is currently going through a good patch of form at the moment, being undefeated in five games in all competitions, and are unbeaten in its past four away games, which ties the club record set in 2016.
With a win on Saturday, the Impact would shrink the gap with Columbus, currently sixth, to only one point with three games in hand.
Evan Bush one minute away from 10,000 with Impact
The next minute spent on the field by goalkeeper Evan Bush will be his 10,000 with the Bleu-blanc-noir (including the 2011 season in NASL), who would thus become the second ‘keeper, after Greg Sutton, to reach this mark in the history of the club. He is also only one win away from 40 with Montreal.
The attack on a roll
A new attacking trio is making waves across MLS: Nacho Piatti, with seven goals and two assists in his past nine league games, Matteo Mancosu, scoring twice and setting up one since making his comeback, three games ago, and Blerim Dzemaili, who found the back of the net twice and created two in his past three appearances in MLS, are wreaking havoc in opposition defenses.
Crew SC having a tough time
The hosts have cumulated five losses in their past six games; the Black and Gold, however, have won their only game at MAPFRE Stadium during this run, a 3-0 win against the Seattle Sounders FC. For the Ohio team, numbers 9, 10 and 11 are at the heart of everything good happening forward: Justin Meram, Federico Higuaín, and Ola Kamara scored 23 of Columbus’ 25 MLS goals this term, a ratio of 92%.
Upcoming games
The Impact will set course for BMO Field for the Canadian Championship final second leg, on Tuesday, June 27, at 7:30pm (RDS, TSN, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690). Then, the Bleu-blanc-noir comes back home at Stade Saputo to face D.C. United in MLS regular season action, on Saturday, July 1, at 7pm (TVA Sports, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690).
