NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION vs MONTRÉAL IMPACT
GILLETTE STADIUM, Foxborough, Mass.
August 12, 2012 (WEEK 23, MLS Game #220)
7 p.m. ET (CSN-NE; TVA)
A vital match in the postseason aspirations of both clubs is ahead when the New England Revolution play host to the Montréal Impact on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. Both clubs are outside the top five in the Eastern Conference, with the Impact just five points out of a playoff position, seven points ahead of New England. The Revolution are coming off a 1-0 home loss to Sporting KC last weekend, while the Impact are coming off a 2-0 home win against Philadelphia.
REFEREE: Allen Chapman. AR1 (bench): Greg Barkey; AR2 (opposite): Peter Manikowski; 4th: Niko Bratsis
MLS Career: 7 games; FC/gm: 22.0; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 1; pens: 1
DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE HERE (PDF)
INJURY REPORT:
- NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION – OUT: FW Alec Purdie (L ankle sprain); GK Bobby Shuttleworth (L knee sprain); DOUBTFUL: MF Blair Gavin (L hamstring tightness); DF A.J. Soares (R hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Kevin Alston (L hamstring soreness)
- MONTREAL IMPACT – OUT: DF Zarek Valentin (L ankle sprain); FW Bernardo Corradi (L knee ACL tear); FW Eduardo Sebrango (L shoulder separation)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: MTL: Nelson Rivas (through Aug. 25)
WARNINGS:
- SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NE: Benny Feilhaber
- SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NE: Chris Tierney... MTL: Bernardo Corradi, Patrice Bernier, Collen Warner
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (1 meeting): Revolution 0 wins, 1 goal … Impact 1 win, 2 goals … Ties 0
FUTURE MATCH: 10/27: Montreal Impact vs. New England Revolution, 2 p.m. ET
• The teams are meeting for the second time. Goals from Patrice Bernier and Sanna Nyassi overcame a thunderbolt from New England’s Lee Nguyen to give the Impact a 2-1 victory, July 18 at Stade Saputo.
• Coaches record: Jay Heaps vs. MTL: P1 W0 L1 T0 … Jesse Marsch vs. NE: P1 W1 L0 T0
LAST MEETING
7/18: MTL 2, NE 1 (Bernier 28; Nyassi 67 – Nguyen 44)
• The Impact took in the 28th minute on a penalty kick from Patrice Bernier, but not before referee Fotis Bazakos had the attempt re-taken not once, but twice.
• The Revolution pulled even a minute before halftime. Lee Nguyen hammered a blast from long range that hit the crossbar and rebounded off the legs of an airborne Donovan Ricketts and into the back of the net.
• But the Impact scored the winner in the 67th minute. Justin Mapp flighted in a cross from the left flank and Sanna Nyassi, standing at the far post, blasting a first-time volley past goalkeeper Matt Reis at the near post.
• MONTREAL IMPACT (4-2-3-1): Donovan Ricketts - Jeb Brovsky, Shavar Thomas, Hassoun Camara, Dennis Iapichino (Zarek Valentin 70)- Patrice Bernier, Felipe Martins - Sanna Nyassi, Justin Mapp, Davy Arnaud (Collen Warner 80) - Marco Di Vaio (Eduardo Sebrango 90).
• NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-2-3-1): Matt Reis - Kevin Alston, A.J. Soares, Darrius Barnes, Chris Tierney - Clyde Simms (Blake Brettschneider 65), Benny Feilhaber, Kelyn Rowe (Fernando Cardenas 79), Lee Nguyen, Ryan Guy - Saer Sene (Sainey Nyassi 79)
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution had their winless streak extended to five games, dropping a 1-0 decision to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution are in a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 23 points from 22 games.
LAST MATCH
HIGHLIGHTS: SKC 1, NE 0
• Sporting grasped the lead after 20 minutes. Revolution midfielder Clyde Simms tried to nod a bouncing ball back to a teammate, but Teal Bunbury nipped in ahead and streaked into the penalty area before slotting home past New England goalkeeper Matt Reis.
• Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made three changes to the team that dropped a 2-1 decision to Philadelphia Union at PPL Park. Florian Lechner and Darrius Barnes came into the back four for Kevin Alston and A.J. Soares, and Dimitry Imbongo started in place of Kelyn Rowe.
• NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-4-2): Matt Reis - Florian Lechner (Fernando Cardenas 46), Stephen McCarthy, Darrius Barnes, Chris Tierney - Ryan Guy, Benny Feilhaber (Kelyn Rowe 78), Clyde Simms, Lee Nguyen - Saer Sene, Dimitry Imbongo (Diego Fagundez 73).
TEAM NEWS
• The Revolution saw their winless run extended to five games (with four losses), their longest of the season, and have scored just two goals in that time.
• “We’re all disappointed. There’s nothing really to say at this point. It was a subpar performance all around,” said defender Chris Tierney. “We didn’t create too many chances and the few that we did we couldn’t put away. So it’s disappointing. At home we expect three points and we didn’t get it.”
• Dimitry Imbongo made his first MLS start, after coming on as a substitute in the match against Philadelphia in his Revolution debut.
• “Dimitry did a good job holding up and playing physical, but there was a little bit more to be done on his chances,” said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps. “He had our two best chances of the game. The first one was difficult, but the second was a header that we want him to get on frame.”
• With the introduction of Fernando Cardenas at halftime, Ryan Guy shifted from the right of midfield to right back, and Cardenas hared forward from the right wing.
WATCH: Revs preview match with Impact
• “He came in, had a boost, got the rhythm going. We had a couple of breaks, here and there, a couple of opportunities in the second half,” said Heaps. “ … Maybe they started to mark him after that, but he came out flying and had some good stuff. But in the end, it was not enough good performances on the field.”
• After playing with a lone striker for a number of matches, Heaps ran out Imbongo and Saer Sene as the strike partnership, moving Lee Nguyen to a left-sided midfield spot after he was playing centrally in front of Benny Feilhaber and Clyde Simms.
• “I’m pretty used to playing in both of those styles, both of those positions,” Feilhaber said. “If I play a little bit more defensively, obviously I’ve got to help organizing with Clyde and telling people where to go. If I’m a little bit higher up, I’m more in charge of breaking the attack and completing those passes to the forwards. It’s a little bit more of a state of mind. I like getting in there, helping the defense out and making it easier for our offense going forward. I have no problem playing that [deeper] position. I like it a lot and right now it might be my best position.”
• After making just seven appearances with the club, his last on June 16, and scoring just a single goal, the Revolution waived 30-year-old Colombian forward José Moreno.
• “We feel like we have a number of forwards now that can play and compete for positions on the field,” Revolution VP Mike Burns said. “Over the next few weeks, we're going to look to add some depth in defense.”
MONTREAL IMPACT
The Montréal Impact won for a fourth consecutive time on their home ground, defeating Philadelphia Union 2-0 on Saturday evening at Stade Saputo. The Impact are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 30 points from 25 matches.
LAST MATCH
HIGHLIGHTS: MTL 2, PHI 0
• The Impact opened the scoring a minute before halftime. Justin Mapp played a short corner kick to Patrice Bernier outside the box, and Bernier lofted a cross into the mixer where Andrew Wenger beat Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath with a low header to his right.
• The game took a violent turn in the 68th minute when Montreal's Nelson Rivas headbutted Antoine Hoppenot to the ground after the forward went in hard on him. Union striker Jack McInerney came in to defend his teammate, and both Rivas and McInerney were shown straight red cards by referee Ismail Elfath.
• Montreal sealed the victory in the 78th minute. Hassoun Camara picked off a pass and rushed forward before sending in a cross from the right that found Felipe, whose scissor-kick volley beat a helpless MacMath.
• Impact head coach Jesse Marsch made two changes to the team that defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-1 at Stade Saputo. Matteo Ferrari came in at left back for Jeb Brovsky, and Andrew Wenger started up top in place of Marco Di Vaio.
• MONTREAL IMPACT (4-2-3-1): Donovan Ricketts - Hassoun Camara, Alessandro Nesta, Nelson Rivas (sent off 69), Matteo Ferrari - Patrice Bernier, Collen Warner - Davy Arnaud, Felipe Martins, Justin Mapp (Sanna Nyassi 61) - Andrew Wenger (Jeb Brovsky 70).
TEAM NEWS
• It was a fourth consecutive victory at Stade Saputo for the Impact, having scored nine goals in those four matches.
• The Impact kept a clean sheet in a league game for the first time since May 5, a span of 15 games.
• “The goal at the end of the half was big because it meant they had to come out more. I thought we defended well. It’s always good to get a shutout,” said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch.
• Off a three-assist game in the victory against New York, Felipe scored a thrilling side-volley scissors kick goal, his fourth of the season and first since June 20.
WATCH: Impact preview trip to New England
• “There are moments before the goal I was thinking we had to have a bit more patience, but then Hassoun plays one early to Felipe and he puts it in. It goes to show coaches don’t know everything,” Marsch said. Said Felipe: “I’m happy with the goal. It’s one of the nicest I’ve scored, but the most important is the three points."
• In his second consecutive start following a seven-match absence due to injury, Nelson Rivas was sent off in the 69th minute. On Thursday, the MLS Disciplinary Committee suspended Rivas an additional two matches for the incident, meaning he will be banned for a total of three games.
• “In general, Nelson is an intimidating defender,” Marsch said. “So as a starting point, I don’t think he needs to respond like that to show how physically intimidating he is. All competitive players have moments when they, for a moment, lose it or feel like they're not going to back down.”
• Matteo Ferrari made his first start since June 16 – at left back. He had started 13 of the Impact’s first 14 league games, all in central defense, before he was forced out with an injury.
• “We try to tilt it a little bit so that Matteo’s not an outright left back,” Marsch said. “We’re trying to feed into his strengths and the team’s strengths as well. Whatever he may call it, I just think it’s a modified center back position. And I think that [Nesta, Rivas and Ferrari] are all very smart and good enough players that it won’t be that big of an adjustment."
• Rookie Andrew Wenger scored his fourth goal of the season, his first since netting in back-to-back games May 26-June 16.
• “I think he’s still working on getting fully fit and sharp from his injury. But he proves every game that he’s dangerous. He’s athletic and strong and he’s always a threat out there,” Marsch said.
• At the start of the week, the Impact made a stunning move, trading Jamaican international Donovan Ricketts to the Portland Timbers for goalkeeper Troy Perkins.
• “We are happy to be able to add Troy to our group and we think he will make an immediate impact in what we are trying to achieve,” Marsch said. “We feel this will help us make a strong push at the end of this year, as well as solidify ourselves for the future.”
