CARSON, California – The Montreal Impact plays the last of three consecutive games away from home this Friday night as it pays a visit to the LA Galaxy at StubHub Center at 10:30pm (TVA Sports [pregame show at 10pm], TSN, 98,5FM [pregame show at around 10pm] & CJAD 800 [pregame show at 10pm]).
“It’s important that we stay focused on what we need to do, which is improving game by game,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We must continue to find solutions when we need to fix things and continue to push our game along. We need to be ready to face a good team and carry on with our progression.”
Prolific away trek for Impact
On its last two away dates, at New York City and at the Chicago Fire, the Bleu-blanc-noir twice managed to overturn a one-goal deficit. With these 1-1 and 2-2 ties, the Impact remained unbeaten in its last three games.
“We’ve been playing well on the road for the last two games,” said goalkeeper Evan Bush. “We’re putting ourselves in good positions to come back home with points. We’ve got one more tough game on the road, and we’ll finally get to return home and try to accumulate some points. Going into LA, we’re a confident group.”
Sent off in the 80th minute of the draw in Chicago, centre back Víctor Cabrera will be suspended for this Friday’s game.
Respectable record for Impact in Los Angeles
The Bleu-blanc-noir is getting ready for its fifth visit to StubHub Center since 2012 – it also played Chivas USA there twice –, where its record against the Galaxy is commendable: one tie and one defeat, with a mere one goal conceded.
“We want to get points away from home, so we just have to do what we have to do,” said Dominic Oduro. “They’re a very good team. We have to be smart, making sure that we are all on the same page and that we don’t get spread out. They’ll be desperate for points, so we have to be very composed.”
Currently tenth in the Western Conference, the Galaxy has lost three of its four games thus far this season. Now managed by Curt Onalfo after more than eight seasons under Bruce Arena, the team let a 2-1 lead slip last weekend in a 4-2 loss at Vancouver. However, the Galaxy did see its new Designated Player Romain Alessandrini score his first two goals for the club.
Left back Robbie Rogers is dealing with an ankle surgery, while midfielder Sebastian Lletget has undergone foot surgery. Both players will be unavailable for this game.
Following game
Stade Saputo comes back to life on Saturday, April 15, at 1pm, as the Impact plays its first outdoor home game this season against expansion club Atlanta United FC (TVA Sports, CTV, 98,5FM & TSN Radio 690). Excellent tickets for this game, as well as season tickets and mini season packages, are still available on impactmontreal.com.
