Montreal hosts its biggest rival at Stade Saputo.
This is one of those games you circled on your calendar in the beginning of the year. The derby. The Canadian Classique. The best rivalry in MLS (in our humble opinion). This Friday night at 7:30pm, Montreal will host Toronto FC for the first time in almost a year at Stade Saputo (TVA Sports, TSN, 91.9 Sports, TSN690.ca).
Wilfried Nancy’s men will try to extend their unbeaten streak to four games, while also trying to maintain their unbeaten record at Stade Saputo since the team came back to Montreal.
“Every game has its own story, but I don’t need to motivate my players when it’s the derby, said head coach Wilfried Nancy. “It’ll be more about channelling our good emotions to do the right thing on the field at the right moments. I hope the stadium will be full. It’ll give us aggressiveness we need on and off the ball to win this game.”
Montreal is currently sixth in the standings and above the playoff line, just four points behind third in the Eastern Conference. Despite injuries to key players like Romell Quioto and Lassi Lappalainen, Montreal has been able to string solid performances together, thanks to solid performances from some of the Club’s depth players.
Things are a little more difficult for our Ontarian neighbours. Toronto FC is currently dead last in the league’s standings and hasn’t won a game in August, suffering losses in their last three games.
“I don’t like to pay attention to where Toronto is in the standings, because again this is a derby,” added Nancy. “The word derby means we should expect a different type of game. Both teams want to win for their supporters. Yes, we are in a better place than them at the moment, but again, these games are different. To put it as simply as possible, we want to win.”
Injury update
Honduran striker Romell Quioto looks like he’ll be back in the line-up for the first time in over a month and a half. Quioto will also join Honduras after during the international break for three World Cup qualifiers in early September.
“I’m evaluating the situation. Romell returned to training on Monday,” said Nancy. “He’s day-to-day, but he’s progressing. I hope we can count on him for Friday’s game. Right now, it looks good.”
