WASHINGTON, D.C – The Montreal Impact (1-5-3) heads to RFK Stadium in Washington to face off against D.C. United (4-3-2) this Saturday at 7pm (TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690).
The Impact’s next opponent has completely revamped its roster from last season, but there will be one familiar face: former Impact captain Davy Arnaud, who was traded to DCU in December 2013.
“Davy’s had a great start to the season and has been a good influence on his team” said defender Hassoun Camara. “They’ve made a lot of changes and are in a good place right now.”
“Even though they had a tough start to the season, with the quality of players they had, you knew it was just a matter of time before they got it going,” said Impact head coach Frank Klopas. “They have a lot of players that can hurt you.”
Add names like Eddie Johnson and Fabian Espindola as forwards, Arnaud as midfielder, Sean Franklin (injured) and Bobby Boswell on the backline, and you have a team that not only has skill, but experience, and a side who has become hard to play at home (3-1-1).
But for Impact keeper Troy Perkins, riding the momentum from Wednesday night’s 4-2 win over FC Edmonton in the Amway Canadian Championship could be the stepping stone his side needs for more success in MLS play.
“Any time you go on the road, it’s tough to play. We ride the luck from Wednesday,” said Perkins. “We go into D.C. as the underdog and show them who we are. We have to impose our possession game on them, make sure we win every minute and have a good mentality. We have to stay in the moment.”
The Impact may have to go into Washington without its offensive leader and Designated Player.
“Marco [Di Vaio] pushed it on Wednesday, did some things today but he is still questionable for this weekend. We’ll evaluate him on Friday and see,” explained Klopas.
Game notes
- This is the first of three regular season meetings between these teams in 2014. Striker Marco Di Vaio has scored three career goals in MLS against DCU while Jack McInerney also scored three times against D.C. while playing with Philadelphia.
- The Impact and D.C. United faced each other twice in 2013. In the first matchup, on August 8, DCU beat the Impact 3-1 at RFK Stadium. The Impact then won 2-1 on August 17 at Stade Saputo
- Goalkeeper Troy Perkins’ next shutout will be his 50th career shutout in MLS.
- Striker Jack McInerney has scored three goals in the team’s two Amway Canadian Championship games, including a brace Wednesday night at Stade Saputo. He has scored four goals since joining the team.
- Hassoun Camara will be available after serving a one-game suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
