BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois – The Montreal Impact plays the second of three straight road games this Saturday at 3pm as it takes on the Chicago Fire – and possibly its new Designated Player, Bastian Schweinsteiger – at Toyota Park (TVA Sports, CTV, 985sports.ca & TSN Radio 690).
“We are staying focused on the task at hand,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We’re looking to accumulate points while also improving from game to game. We are looking for that reference performance that will help us find that rhythm and cohesion.”
Start no. 200 for Oduro?
One of the iron men of MLS, Montreal’s Dominic Oduro, could make his 200th career regular-season start, should he be on the field at kickoff this Saturday in Bridgeview. Still only 31 years old, Oduro would be the 90th player in league history to reach this milestone – Nos. 91 and 92 could be Houston’s A.J. DeLaGarza and D.C. United’s Sébastien Le Toux, whose teams play evening games this Saturday. The all-time leader in MLS starts is Real Salt Lake’s Kyle Beckerman, who has started 380 games.
Chicago welcomes new signing Schweinsteiger
Currently in seventh place in the MLS Eastern Conference, the Fire recently delighted its fan base with the signing of midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. A 2014 world champion with Germany, ‘Schweini’ could make his North American competitive debut as soon as this Saturday against the Impact, according to comments made to the media by head coach Veljko Paunovic on Wednesday.
“Schweinsteiger is a world class player,” said defender Hassoun Camara. “He’ll still have to adapt to this league, which isn’t always straightforward, but he’s a smart player. In any case, we must address every situation as a group, and this is a quality squad that we have.”
On its most recent visit to Toyota Park, the Bleu-blanc-noir clinched a 2-1 win over the Fire. Nacho Piatti then curled in an astounding last-gasp winner to help Montreal to its first-ever win in Chicago. Since joining MLS, the Impact has posted a record of five wins, four losses and four ties against the Fire. Oduro has scored one goal and provided two assists over the years against Chicago, while defender Wandrille Lefèvre has registered one goal and one assist against the Fire.
The home team will be without defender Johan Kappelhof, who was sent off 11 minutes into a 4-0 loss against Atlanta United FC on April 18. The injured Matt Polster (knee), John Goossens (ankle) and David Arshakyan (thigh) are also set to miss out on this fixture.
Following games
The Impact’s three-game road stretch comes to a close next Friday, April 7, at 10:30pm at StubHub Center in Carson, California, against the LA Galaxy (TVA Sports, TSN, 98,5FM & CJAD). The Bleu-blanc-noir’s next home fixture takes place on Saturday, April 15, at 1pm for its first game of the season at Stade Saputo against Atlanta United FC (TVA Sports, CTV, 98,5FM & TSN Radio 690). Excellent tickets for this game, as well as season tickets and mini season packages, are still available on impactmontreal.com.
