MONTREAL – FC Montreal will host the New York Red Bulls 2 at 6:30pm on Saturday, June 6, at Stade Saputo. It’s a second matchup this season against the New York team, who won the first game 3-2 at Red Bull Arena on May 24.
“It’s still really fresh the in players’ minds,” said head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. “There was a little disappointment because we felt we did some good things. The players will focus on correcting our mistakes near the opponent’s goal, which should help us achieve more results.”
Regardless of the result, the head coach recognized that they are one of the best teams FC Montreal faced in USL, and his players share this feeling.
“We have to give them that. For me, it was the most interesting team technically with the ball,” admitted defender Chakib Hocine. “We are expecting this type of game Saturday, a team that wants to play with the ball.”
FC Montreal got their only victory of the season in USL in their last home game, a 1-0 victory over Charleston.
“We are at home, in Montreal,” said Hocine. “The key will be to stay focused for 90 minutes. Sometimes, we have moments where we lack concentration and this can hurt us.”
On the Red Bulls’ side, the team lost their last game 4-2 to the Richmond Kickers on May 30, and sit second in the Eastern Conference in goals allowed, something that FC Montreal could capitalize on now that they are finding the back of the net more often.
The New York Red Bulls 2 will also be familiar to some of the younger members of FC Montreal as part of the U16 and U18 Impact teams that played the Red Bulls in the USSDA.
“There is a certain history behind this matchup,” said Eullaffroy. “Almost 50% of our players played the Red Bulls in USSDA with our U18s and some New York USL players were in this league. It’s a good challenge for us.”
Admission to the game is free and will also be streamed live at www.impactmontreal.com/fcmontreal.
