Preview: TFC, Impact set to renew vows at Stade Saputo

MONTRÉAL IMPACT vs TORONTO FC
STADE SAPUTO, Montréal, Qué.
June 27, 2012 (WEEK 17, MLS Game #147)
7:30 p.m. ET (TSN/RDS)
The Montréal Impact and Toronto FC will renew their rivalry for the second time in MLS when the clubs meet on Wednesday evening at Stade Saputo. It’s been a dream start in MLS games in Stade Saputo for the Impact, who scored four goals for a second game there in a 4-2 win against Houston at the weekend. TFC once again saw victory snatched away at the death, New England scoring in stoppage time for a 2-2 draw on Saturday at BMO Field.
REFEREE:
Kevin Stott. SAR (bench): Adam Wienckowski; JAR (opposite): Brian Poeschel; 4th: Geoff Gamble
MLS Career: 223 games; FC/gm: 25.7; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 58; pens: 45
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INJURY REPORT:


MONTREAL IMPACT – OUT: DF Matteo Ferrari (R quad strain); FW Bernardo Corradi (L knee ACL tear); FW Andrew Wenger (L hamstring strain); FW Evan James (L ankle sprain)


TORONTO FC – OUT: FW Nicholas Lindsay (L knee surgery recovery); GK Stefan Frei (L lower leg); DF Ty Harden (R adductor strain); DF Adrian Cann (R knee sprain); FW Joao Plata (R hamstring strain); PROBABLE: DF Aaron Maund (R eye hyphema); DF Logan Emory (shoulder subluxation)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES:
none
SUSPENDED:
none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD:
MTL: Felipe Martins
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS:
MTL: Davy Arnaud, Bernardo Corradi, Sanna Nyassi, Tyson Wahl
TOR: Ashtone Morgan, Julian de Guzman
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (MLS): Impact 1 win, 2 goals … Toronto FC 0 wins, 1 goal … Ties 0
FUTURE MATCH: 10/20: Toronto FC vs. Montreal Impact, 2 p.m. (TSN/RDS)

• The Canadian rivals are meeting for the second time this season in MLS. Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Andrew Wenger each scored to lead the Impact to a 2-1 win April 7 at Olympic Stadium.
• The teams also met in the Amway Canadian Championship semifinals, TFC taking a 2-0 win in the second leg on May 9 at BMO Field, to win the series 2-0 on aggregate.
• Toronto FC and the lower-division Impact met six times from 2008-2010 in the Canadian Championship. TFC won five matches; the lone draw came in 2008 at BMO Field, giving the Impact the Canadian domestic title.
• Coaches' records: Paul Mariner vs. MTL: first game … Jesse Marsch vs. TOR: P1 W1 L0 T0

LAST MEETING (MLS)
4/7: MTL 2, TOR 1 (Ubiparipovic 18; Wenger 81 – Koevermans 88)

• The Impact took the lead after 18 minutes. Lamar Neagle intercepted a ball in midfield and found a wide-open Sinisa Ubiparipovic, who side-footed a shot from just outside the box past goalkeeper Milos Kocic.
• Toronto FC suffered a blow when defender Logan Emory was sent off after 65 minutes for denying forward Sanna Nyassi a goalscoring opportunity.
• Montreal doubled their lead nine minutes from the end after a one-on-one ball chase between Andrew Wenger and TFC central defender Ty Harden, with the rookie able to latch onto the ball in the penalty area and fire home past Kocic.
• TFC scored a late goal when Reggie Lambe put in a cross from the left and Danny Koevermans steered home a header, but Montreal held on for the historic win.

MONTREAL IMPACT (4-4-2): Donovan Ricketts - Zarek Valentin, Shavar Thomas, Matteo Ferrari, Tyson Wahl - Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Justin Mapp 73), Collen Warner, Felipe Martins, Lamar Neagle - Sanna Nyassi (Davy Arnaud 82), Bernardo Corradi (Andrew Wenger 66).
TORONTO FC (4-2-3-1): Milos Kocic - Richard Eckersley (Doneil Henry 52), Ty Harden, Logan Emory (sent off 65), Ashtone Morgan - Terry Dunfield, Julian de Guzman - Nick Soolsma (Reggie Lambe 73), Ryan Johnson, Joao Plata (Luis Silva 52) - Danny Koevermans.
CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

• On May 9 BMO Field, Toronto FC knocked the Impact out of the Amway Canadian Championship with a 2-0 win in the second leg of their semifinal, winning the tie by the same score. The teams played to a scoreless draw May 2 at Olympic Stadium
• Reggie Lambe gave TFC the lead after just two minutes, but the match had another turn in the 17th minute when Richard Eckersley was sent off. But Ryan Johnson hammered home following a corner kick in the 38th minute to extend the lead.
• Here’s the TFC team: Milos Kocic; Richard Eckersley (sent off 16), Doneil Henry, Adrian Cann, Ashtone Morgan; Julian de Guzman, Torsten Frings, Eric Avila (Terry Dunfield 57); Reggie Lambe (Nick Soolsma 73), Ryan Johnson, Joao Plata (Jeremy Hall 67)
• Here’s the Impact team: Donovan Ricketts; Tyson Wahl, Matteo Ferrari, Shavar Thomas (Justin Mapp 46), Jeb Brovsky (Hassoun Camara 75); Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Collen Warner, Patrice Bernier (Felipe 46), Davy Arnaud; Sanna Nyassi, Bernardo Corradi

MONTREAL IMPACT
The Montréal Impact won impressively for the second time in as many starts at Stade Saputo, rolling to a 4-2 win against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday evening. The Impact are in a tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 18 points from 16 matches.
LAST MATCH

• The Impact led after just four minutes. Felipe released Sanna Nyassi into space behind the Houston defense, and as he tried to round Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall, he stumbled and fell but had time to lift his head and see the ball somehow trickle into the empty net.
• The Dynamo were level, though, in the 16th minute after Patrice Bernier tripped Colin Clark on the edge of the box. From the free kick, Brad Davis unleashed a left footed curler towards the top right corner which Donovan Ricketts could not fully stop.
• Yet five minutes later the Impact were back in front. Jeb Brovsky released Justin Mapp on the left of the box, where he crossed towards Davy Arnaud who outjumped Corey Ashe to nod the ball home.
• But just before halftime the score was again level. Brian Ching played an exquisite through ball and Will Bruin lashed it home from inside the area.
• The Impact came out after the break by winning a long series of corner kick, one of which produced the eventual winner as Hassoun Camara volleyed home at the back post.
• The Dynamo's Geoff Cameron then conceded a penalty which Bernier duly converted to make it 4-2 in the 67th minute. The visitors ended the game a man short after Adam Moffat was shown a straight red card for a rough foul on Felipe in the 73rd minute.
• Impact head coach Jesse Marsch made two changes to the team that fell 2-1 to Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center. Hassoun Camara came into central defense for Shavar Thomas, and Sanna Nyassi started up top in place of Andrew Wenger.

MONTREAL IMPACT (4-2-3-1): Donovan Ricketts - Zarek Valentin, Nelson Rivas (Shavar Thomas 62), Hassoun Camara, Jeb Brovsky - Patrice Bernier, Collen Warner - Davy Arnaud (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 88), Felipe Martins, Justin Mapp - Sanna Nyassi (Eduardo Sebrango 88).
TEAM NEWS

• Just a week after scoring four goals in the MLS opening of Stade Saputo, the Impact did it again, matching their MLS club high since coming into the league.
• “It’s a big field. If we’re good with the ball we are going to get chances,” said Justin Mapp. “We want our home field to be a fortress. We had two good games here and now we look forward to Wednesday.”
• The victory kept Montréal in the thick of the battle for a playoff spot – and with a victory on Wednesday at home against Toronto FC, they could move into the fifth and final playoff position.
• “I think that when you look at the table it’s always nice to see when you’ve gathered a couple of points and move up,” Impact head coach Jesse Marsch said. “But, we need to continue to push ourselves forward. I think we’ve been a good team for a while. It’s not we’ve all of a sudden gotten over the hump. It’s just a matter of managing performances to get points.”
• Despite making a change for the final quarter of the loss at Chivas USA, Marsch again maintained his central midfield triangle with Collen Warner, Patrice Bernier and Felipe.
• “Having three central midfielders causes a lot of trouble for other teams. If we keep possession of the ball on this big field, good things will happen for us,” said Mapp. “We’ve scored four goals in both our games here so far, so it’s worked for us.”
• The Impact scored a goal from a set piece for the first time in league play this season (though five of the club’s 24 goals have come on penalty kicks).
• “We were actually pretty dangerous on our set pieces tonight. Davy did well to flick the ball on to Hassoun,” said Marsch. “If you told me we Hassoun would score off of a set piece, I would have though with his head, but he is so dangerous in those situations.”
• While the Impact allowed two goals on the game and have now allowed an average of 1.63 goals per game (18th in MLS, ahead of only Toronto FC, with 2.15 goals allowed per game), they were able to see out the win.
• “Maybe earlier in the season, we would have let it affect us, but we came out in the second and were determined to keep playing our game,” said Camara. “We finished strong and had another good performance at home.”

TORONTO FC
Toronto FC once again were pulled back into a draw with almost the game’s final kick, ending in a 2-2 tie with the New England Revolution on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field. TFC is in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, with five points from 13 games.
LAST MATCH

• Toronto got off on the right foot after just four minutes, when Danny Koevermans shed his defender to head home a long cross from the left sideline by Ashtone Morgan.
• The Reds struck again in the 42nd minute, again off a long cross from the left by Morgan. Koevermans sprawled for the header, drawing the New England defense and leaving an unmarked Ryan Johnson at the far post to nod home for a 2-0 lead.
• The Revolution began their march back in earnest in the 71st minute when substitute Blake Brettschneider back a rebound from a tough angle off a Benny Feilhaber blast from the top of the box.
• And after seeing a couple of quality chances go begging, the Revs found the equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Chris Tierney headed home Florian Lechner’s cross, sending New England home with a point.
• TFC head coach Paul Mariner made no changes to the team that reached a 3-3 draw with the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium.

TORONTO FC (4-4-2): Milos Kocic - Jeremy Hall, Doneil Henry, Richard Eckersley, Ashtone Morgan - Terry Dunfield, Torsten Frings (Logan Emory 67), Julian de Guzman (Reggie Lambe 82), Eric Avila (Luis Silva 59) - Ryan Johnson, Danny Koevermans.
TEAM NEWS

• For the second time in a week, TFC saw the equalizing goal conceded in stoppage time. Houston scored twice in the final 17 minutes to pull back into a 3-3 draw on June 16.
• “It’s an understatement to say we are all disappointed. I think we were running on fumes a little bit at the end,” said TFC head coach Paul Mariner. “We had a long road trip, three games in seven days – and we just couldn't hold it. You can all see it [coming].”
• The trip to Montréal starts a stretch of three weeks where TFC play twice in each week, and have four of those six games away from home.
• “I am going to rest them up this week as we have Montreal coming up, the local derby, a massive game. The players are absolutely gutted but they will be ready to play,” Mariner said. “We were 30 seconds away from a win which would have done wonders for us and the lads are feeling a bit sorry for themselves.”
• Danny Koevermans has five goals in his last five games – three in his last two – after scoring the opener Saturday vs. New England. He also added an assist, his first of the season.
• “I think they outplayed us and I think they played better soccer than us today,” he said to the Toronto Star. “To be honest, they deserved the draw but then you hope for once this season … that we would be lucky. When they hit the post (in the 88th minute) I was like, ‘OK, this could be our first win to be a little bit lucky,’ but then 20 seconds, one good cross and it still went in.”
• Ashtone Morgan recorded his first two assists of the season, setting up both goals vs. New England, and now has four career assists in his two seasons in MLS.
• “Right from the warmup I was feeling my crosses and they were looking very good and I was just doing what I do best and get up the field and get balls into the box and we were fortunate enough to get two goals out of them,” said Morgan.
• While Mariner is still looking for his first win after taking over the club on June 7, he has seen TFC get results from three of their last four league games.
• “It’s just a case of everyone pulling together and doing it together, not just one or two players but everyone needs to be fighting for each other,” said defender Richard Eckersley. “The sooner we start doing that, the sooner we start winning the games comfortably.”