Impact hope win over Toronto provides blueprint to halt Atlanta
After toppling Toronto, the Impact have another high-scoring giant in their sights — Atlanta United.
The Impact (11-12-6) head to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday to face a team that has outscored opponents 17-3 in its first four games in its new facility, including eight goals from Venezuelan sensation Josef Martinez.
Montreal hopes to find the same magic against fourth-place Atlanta (13-8-7) that saw them hand league-leading Toronto FC their first home defeat of the season 5-3 on Wednesday night at BMO Field.
“It’s a similar challenge because it’s a team full of confidence, like Toronto,” coach Mauro Biello said Friday. “A team that’s just plowing through the league.
“We got a big win against Toronto, which gave us a big boost, and now it’s about repeating that performance. Tight defence, having the matchups right, having the right shape to face them and then hurt them like we hurt Toronto.”
The victory over a Toronto side missing three star players rekindled playoff hopes after the Impact lost four games in a row. Seventhplace Montreal sits three points back of the New York Red Bulls, who hold the sixth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot and have a game in hand.
Atlanta has yet to beat a Canadian-based team, having lost once each in Montreal and Vancouver and tied 2-2 in Toronto. The Impact pulled out a 2-1 win on April 15 when Anthony Jackson-Hamel redirected a Hernan Bernardello shot in stoppage time. Atlanta played most of that game down a man when central defender Leandro Gonzalez Pirez was sent off.
Rookie Jackson-Hamel picked up his eighth and ninth goals, in only 17 games, in Toronto while Ignacio Piatti also had a brace to run his total to 17, matching in 24 games his career high set last season in 32 appearances.
The Atlanta game is the second of four in an 11-day stretch that sees second-place New York City visit Saputo Stadium on Wednesday followed by a game at high altitude three days later in Colorado.
The Impact are expected to sign Piatti to a contract extension. Without going into details, the Argentine said he had “good news” on that front that he will announce at the end of the season.