The following is a press release from the Montreal Impact:
Impact Hosts Crew SC on Saturday at Stade Saputo
Countrymen Piatti and Higuain set to face off
MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact welcomes the Columbus Crew SC at Stade Saputo this Saturday, at 8pm (TSN, RDS, TSN Radio 690, 98.5fm) and will look to shut out the league’s leading goal scorer in Kei Kamara.
“After losing the last game at home against New York, it’s good to play in front of our fans again against a good team like Columbus to bounce back,” said defender Ambroise Oyongo. “We have to stay focus on the game.”
Impact Designated Player Ignacio Piatti is leading the Impact in scoring in 2015, amassing five goals and three assists in 14 games played, including a helper in his team’s 2-1 victory over the Crew SC in Columbus in June.
In two career games played against Columbus, the Argentine has scored two goals and added an assist, scoring his brace against the Crew SC in a 2-0 win last season at Stade Saputo, the only other time he’s ever faced them at home.
Patrice Bernier returns from a one game suspension following his ejection against the Philadelphia Union two weeks ago, but Andrés Romero will miss this weekend’s matchup due to yellow card accumulation.
The Columbus Crew SC is in second place in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 6-6-6, but is just six points ahead of the ninth place Impact, who hold three games in hand.
Added to Kamara’s league- leading 12 goals is midfielder Ethan Finlay’s 10 assists, also tops in MLS and let’s not forget Argentine playmaker Federico Higuain (4G, 4A). The Crew SC has also just added 23-year-old Democratic Republic of Congo midfielder Cedrick Mabwati, who’s played 215 games across the three top tiers of Spanish soccer.
“It’s a team that is good in possession and that will cross a lot in the box,” said head coach Frank Klopas. “As a group, we defend well, but we have to take these opportunities on the break.. If you miss one, you have to be ready for the next one. We worked on certain things in the final third to make sure it happens.”
The Impact plays its next game on the road versus Sporting Kansas City, at Sporting Park, on Saturday, July 18 at 8:30pm EDT (TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690, 98.5fm).
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
