Impact in battle to escape basement
Montreal missing top scorer Piatti against D.C. United
MONTREAL After a nasty and unsuccessful Voyageurs Cup clash with rival Toronto FC, it’s back to regular business for the Montreal Impact.
In this case, it will be the battle to get out of last place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference when the Impact (4-5-6) face D.C. United (5-9-3) on Saturday night at Saputo Stadium.
However, they’ll be without their scoring leader Ignacio Piatti, who left Tuesday’s 2-1 loss in Toronto with an adductor injury. The Argentine midfielder is awaiting results of an MRI scan to determine how long he’ll be out of action.
“It’s a big challenge for us, losing him,” said coach Mauro Biello.
“He’s our best player in terms of what he brings offensively, but it’s an opportunity for others to step up and show they deserve more minutes.”
The Impact are also without captain Patrice Bernier, forward Anthony Jackson-Hamel and backup goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, who have joined Canada’s national team for the Gold Cup tournament that opens July 7 in New York.
The two-game Canadian Championship series was an emotional ride for the Impact, who played TFC to a 1-1 draw in the home leg and lost the second leg at BMO Field on an added-time goal from Sebastian Giovinco. In between, a thoroughly flat Montreal side suffered its worst league defeat of the season, 4-1 at Columbus.
They don’t want the same letdown against D.C., the league’s lowest-scoring team with just 12 goals in 17 games.
“Every year it seems they’re in the same position,” said Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush. “They start out slow and then they go on a roll where they win four or five in a row and get into the playoffs.
“We don’t want to be the team that gets them started on a roll. We need to take them seriously.”
Bush said the high-energy cup series with TFC may have been good for the Impact, if only to shake them out of any mid-season doldrums.
The Impact haven’t won since a 1-0 decision over the New York Red Bulls on June 3. Since then, between league and cup matches, they’re 0-2-3, with four of the matches on the road.
Biello has decisions to make on his lineup. If he puts teenager Ballou Tabla in Piatti’s spot on the left wing, he’ll have two right-side guys playing on the left, replacing injured lefties Ambroise Oyongo and Daniel Lovitz.
Speedy forward Dominic Oduro could also get back in the lineup.
Lovitz was back on his feet this week after suffering two deep gashes in his knee that required 11 stitches to close. He was injured during a freak fall in the first leg against Toronto and he’ll need time before he’s ready to play. Note: Brian Wilde and Randy Tieman, sportscasters recently laid off from CTV Montreal, have been invited to ring the North Star bell by 1642 MTL during Saturday’s game.