Against the Union, the Impact faces a rival in the race series

Photo: Peter McCabe, The canadian Press
The Montreal Impact defeated the Union in Philadelphia a 2-1 victory at Saputo stadium on July 19th.

The Impact could be two birds with one stone this weekend, while montreal will try to gain ground in the race series, in addition to hurt a rival direct.

The Impact (7-8-6) hopes to sign a second win in a row for only the second time this season in MLS, then he will visit to the Union of Philadelphia (8-10-5) on Saturday night.

The troupe Mauro Biello occupies the ninth place of the eastern conference, five points of the Columbus Crew and the sixth and last place giving access to the series. The Impact, however, has three games in hand on the Crew.

For its part, the Eu finds itself in eighth place, with two points more than the Impact to the meter and two matches less to play by the end of the campaign.

“They have players dynamic that can go to the front and a defensive disciplined, has analyzed the defender side of the Impact Daniel Lovitz, earlier this week. From our side, we will have to impose on their land. We have already shown that we can score goals against them and we’re going to have to work hard to keep possession of the ball. “

The Impact defeated the Union 2-1 at the Saputo stadium on July 19th. He had also pulled off a tie of 3-3 at Philadelphia on 22 April, clearing a backlog of three goals thanks to a brace from Anthony Jackson-Hamel.

The Blue-white-black had its best output since the truce of two weeks in July the last weekend, picking up a 2-1 victory in the face of the Orlando City SC. The team hopes to string together a second win for the first time since the 20 may and 3 June.

“We were more close to each other and we have been able to succeed a lot of combinations in the triangle, which helped with the level of our possession of the ball,” said captain Patrice Bernier back to the win against Orlando. We need to keep the same state of mind in Philadelphia. “

“It was a good performance,” said Lovitz. I think we are in a trust and it happens at the right time, while we are going to face several rivals of the association in the coming weeks. “

If the team is confident, it will also need to ensure that do not be distracted by the two-day strike from midfielder Ballou Tabla. The Ivorian over the age of 18 years and is absent on Monday and Tuesday, likely because he was unhappy that the team had refused an offer of a transfer to a european club.

Ballou is back in the ranks, Wednesday, and apologized through the social networks.

Lovitz was not, however, that the whims of Ballou affect the preparation of the team.

“It has not really to do with the other players. It is a personal matter between him and the team, he recalled. We are teammates, but we focus on our work on the ground. “

The news was more positive this week regarding the midfielder Samuel Piette, who will be eligible for his first game in his new uniform. The Impact was received on Wednesday of his international transfer certificate, thereby concluding the transaction with the CD Izarra, a club of third division in Spain.

Piette has already attracted praise from his teammates this week and he could get his first minutes in the face of the Union if Hernan Bernardello and Marco Donadel are not available. The departure of Calum Mallace, traded to the Seattle Sounders on Thursday, also points to the presence of Piette in the formation of Biello.