Mercedes-Benz Stadium hosts game between Bleu-blanc-noir and Atlanta United FC
ATLANTA, Georgia – The Montreal Impact will visit for the first time Mercedes-Benz Stadium, this Sunday at 5pm, to face expansion club Atlanta United FC (TVA Sports, FOX, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690). It will be the Bleu-blanc-noir’s 200th regular season game since the club joined MLS, back in 2012.
“It is another great challenge in front of us,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We will have to show the same mentality we had on Wednesday, follow our game plan and execute in the right moments to capitalize. They are very confident at the moment, but we also gained in confidence by winning in Toronto. We have to offer the same kind of performance in Atlanta.”
Confidence boost after Toronto win
After the club’s second win at BMO Field by a 5-3 score on Wednesday, the Montreal squad will look to carry on against another explosive attacking side. Tata Martino’s men rank second in total goals scored in MLS this season and Josef Martínez has found the back of the net eight times in his last four games, and that includes two hat tricks.
The Impact has the weapons to answer. Nacho Piatti, with another brace and two assists against the Reds, is now tied for first in the league with five multi-goal games in 2017. Anthony Jackson-Hamel, himself the author of a brace in Toronto, has recorded nine goals this term, a team record for a Homegrown player.
Atlanta in full flight
If the Impact has nicely put to bed a four-game losing streak against a rival, Atlanta United FC is in top form at the moment: since opening its brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the team has won all four games played there, while scoring 17 goals and allowing only three, all in the same game against rival Orlando City SC.
“We don’t have a choice. Atlanta is on a very good run at home,” said midfielder Samuel Piette. “We have to play with the mindset that we have nothing to lose. It might be the best team in the league right now, we will have to give everything on the field to bring back points.”
In the last and only game between the two clubs, earlier this year at Stade Saputo, the Impact recorded its first victory of the year by beating Atlanta 2-1. Centre-back Leandro González Pirez saw red before the break and Piatti, from 12 yards, and Jackson-Hamel, at the death, brought three points to their team.
As a sidenote, the Bleu-blanc-noir played its last game in the second division, in 2011, in Atlanta, against the Silverbacks. Montreal won 4-0 and Evan Bush recorded the shutout.
Upcoming games
The Montreal Impact will host David Villa and New York City FC on Wednesday, September 27, at 7:30pm (TVA Sports, TSN, 985sports.ca , CJAD 800), before flying off to the Rockies to face Colorado Rapids in Denver, at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, on Saturday, September 30, at 9pm (TVA Sports, CJAD 800).
