MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact returns home to Stade Saputo, this Saturday, and faces the Colorado Rapids at 4pm EDT (RDS [pregame show at 3:30pm], 98,5fm & TSN Radio 690 [pregame show at 3pm]).
Fewer than 1,000 tickets are still available on impactmontreal.com or at the Stade Saputo ticket office, on game day. The club recommends that supporters without a ticket get to the stadium early if they want to buy tickets on site. Please note as well that, given that new security measures have been implemented at all stadium entrances, supporters are encouraged to arrive at their earliest convenience. Doors open at 2:30pm.
The club would also like to remind supporters that major roadwork is scheduled for this Saturday. All southbound lanes on Pie-IX Blvd. will be closed between Mont-Royal Avenue and Sherbrooke Street. We thus recommend that you get to the stadium early and that you use public transit.
Another section of Pie-IX Blvd., from Pierre-de-Coubertin Avenue to Mont-Royal Avenue, will be closed in the northbound direction from April 30, at 6pm, to May 31. Leaving the stadium by car might thus be a complicated matter.
A third game in eight days for the Impact
The Impact (4-3-1, 13 pts) plays its third game in eight days, this Saturday. After last weekend’s loss, the team travelled to Yankee Stadium and drew 1-1 with New York City FC, last Wednesday. Dominic Oduro, assisted by Didier Drogba, scored in second-half stoppage time.
“My players will be ready to give what they have to give,” said head coach Mauro Biello. “We have to return to the principles we showed early in the season. We have to move the ball well to move the opponent around. We went away from that a little bit in recent games. We have to be patient and put doubt in the opponents’ minds.”
The Rapids hosted the Impact in the only game between the two teams last season. Drogba scored the only goal of the game on a direct free kick, handing the Bleu-blanc-noir three crucial points ahead of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Oduro’s goal against NYCFC was already his third of the season – and the third scored by one of Biello’s substitutes in 2016. Oduro, who has scored three career goals against Colorado, is also serving his teammates well: he has provided them with three assists – including an MLS-best two game-winning assists – thus far this season.
“We dropped points last week, and at home, we want our stadium to be a fortress,” said defender Wandrille Lefèvre. “We have to be relentless from minute one to minute 90. We know how to rebound after bad outings. We’re aware of the issues we’ve faced in recent games. We’ll bounce back.”
The Eastern Conference-leading Impact is successful when it scores. The team has scored in four different games this season, notching three wins and a draw. The Impact’s start to the MLS season has been its most productive ever on the attacking front: the Bleu-blanc-noir has tallied 11 goals in eight games, compared to nine in 2013 and 2015, and seven in 2012 and 2014.
A promising start to the season in Colorado
The Rapids (5-2-1, 16 pts) have enjoyed a fine start to the season and have won their last three games. While their attack hasn’t fired on all cylinders – only one Western Conference team has scored fewer than their 10 goals –, their defence has been the toughest in the Conference, with only six goals conceded.
“This team is going to be tough to play against, but we’ll find ways to, hopefully, break them down,” said goalkeeper Evan Bush. “We’ll have to be a little more opportunistic and ambitious when we get the ball in the final third. We can’t be scared to get service in the box and make plays. We’re aware of that, and we’ve worked on it.”
A handful of head coach Pablo Mastroeni’s players are out injured, including winger Marco Pappa, who is dealing with a sprained knee and will be out for two to four weeks.
Defender Eric Miller, a Montreal first-round pick (fifth overall) at the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, will be playing at Stade Saputo for the first time since the Rapids acquired him in a trade with the Impact on February 14, 2016.
Next game
The Montreal Impact’s following game is scheduled for Saturday, May 7, at 7:30pm EDT at Columbus Crew SC (RDS, 98,5fm &TSN Radio 690). The team will be back home to Stade Saputo on Saturday, May 14, at 5pm EDT, taking on the Philadelphia Union (RDS, TDS, 98,5fm & TSN Radio 690). Excellent individual tickets, as well as season tickets and Pick-4-Packs, are still available on impactmontreal.com.
