NEW YORK – The Montreal Impact (4-14-5) will play its third game in eight days this Saturday at 7pm (RDS, TSN2, TSN Radio 690) against the New York Red Bulls (6-7-10), but the group is heading to Red Bull Arena with some confidence.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game, but we still have some chances to earn points,” said Marco Di Vaio, following his two-goal performance Wednesday night in El Salvador. “We have been defending well as a group and recently we’ve been creating a lot of chances.”
The Impact has won three of its last four games across all competitions, including two shutouts. The Impact’s Italian striker was a catalyst, scoring four goals over that span, while Desigmated Player Ignacio Piatti played his first two games for the bleu-blanc-noir.
“I feel good,” added Di Vaio. “The beginning of the season was tough for me with a suspension and then the injury, but the last couple of months I feel better.”
“We’ve been building a lot of confidence over the last couple of weeks,” said goalkeeper Evan Bush. “We’ve put together some good performances and showed a lot of character.”
The Red Bulls are coming off a bye week with the league’s golden boot leader in Bradley Wright-Phillips and his 18 goals scored in 22 MLS games in full form.
New York has also brought in some added firepower to join Wright-Phillips and Thierry Henry’s five goals and 10 assists in Frenchmen Saer Sene, acquiring the striker from the New England Revolution a few weeks back.
“They are in a position in which they are fighting for a playoff spot,” added Bush. “We want points against New York, despite all the games we have this week. We’ve been taking it one game at a time and it’s been working for us.”
The Impact will play its next game at Stade Saputo on Saturday August 30 against the Columbus Crew at 7:30pm. Excellent tickets are still available through ticketmaster.ca.
GAME NOTES
- In the first matchup of the season between these clubs, they played to a 2-2 draw at Olympic Stadium on April 5.
- Striker Marco Di Vaio has recorded three career goals and one assist in MLS against New York.
- Midfielder Calum Mallace will be available this Saturday, after serving an automatic one-game suspension last Saturday against Chicago, after violating the MLS policy regarding entering field of play/leaving bench and technical area, the previous week in Philadelphia.
- In its last game, the Red Bulls lost 1-0 against Chicago, on August 10.
Marco Di Vaio's pregame comments
Evan Bush's pregame comments
