New York City FC vs. Montreal Impact | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

New York City FC vs. Montreal Impact
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 20
Yankee Stadium — Bronx
July 11 - 7 pm ET
WATCH: TVAS, TSN 1/4/5, ESPN+

After an emotional, if not ugly, derby win over the New York Red Bulls, New York City FC have a short turnaround to face the suddenly surging Montreal Impact at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.

The Impact have outscored the opposition, 9-1, on their current season-long winning streak, which extended to four games after a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday.

NYCFC have suffered just one defeat in MLS play to Montreal (4W-2D). They have allowed multiple goals just one time in those matches, per Opta.

New York City FC

Dome Torrent flipped the script on the build-out-of-the-back boys from the Bronx, opting to play more direct against the Red Bulls' pressure and then turned the tables on their rivals late when second-half substitute Jonathan Lewis pressed and picked Aaron Long’s pocket before slipping a pass to Maxi Moralez, who netted the winner five minutes from full time to lift NYCFC to a 1-0 win Sunday night in the Bronx.

NYCFC (10-4-4) remain unbeaten at home this season (8-0-1), leapfrogged the Red Bulls into second place in the Eastern Conference and avenged a pair of 4-0 defeats to RBNY earlier this year in Harrison.

“I’m very proud of our players because it wasn’t easy to play in this intensity,” Torrent said. “They play with soul. The most important thing, I say many times, you have to play with passion — the derbies especially — but a lot of passion maybe is dangerous.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Alex Ring
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Yangel Herrera (ankle surgery), D - Cedric Hountondji (hamstring injury), F - Jo Inge Berget (quad discomfort); QUESTIONABLE: F - David Villa (right knee injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Sean Johnson — Saad Abdul-Salaam, Sebastian Ibeagha, Alex Callens, Ronald Matarrita — Alex Ring, Ebenezer Ofori, Tommy McNamara — Jesus Medina, David Villa, Jonathan Lewis

Notes: NYCFC have three players with 7+ goals this season (David Villa and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi – 8, Morález – 7). They had never had more than two players do so in a single season prior to 2018. … The Cityzens are conceding just 0.4 goals per league home game this season (four in nine games). They would be just the third team since 2010 to allow an average of 0.4 goals per home game in a season.

Montreal Impact

After picking up their most impressive win of the season — a 2-0 triumph over Sporting Kansas City — the Impact followed up with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids Saturday at Stade Saputo.

Saphir Taïder scored two goals one minute apart early in the second half and Montreal (8-11-0) survived a late scare, when Dominique Badji pulled the Rapids to within a goal in the 78th minute, to move above the playoff line in the Eastern Conference with their fifth win in their last six games. The goal conceded snapped a club-record 420-minute shutout streak.

“I found that my players were very focused on the task and this game," Rémi Garde said. “It's not a mistake to tell them that this match was going to be difficult to handle. I am very satisfied and I find that the group becomes more and more mature.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Ken Krolicki, D - Chris Duvall
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Zakaria Diallo (ruptured Achilles tendon), D - Kyle Fisher (tibia injury), D - David Choiniere (ankle surgery), M - Louis Beland-Goyette (foot injury); QUESTIONABLE: M - Jeisson Vargas (undisclosed injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Evan Bush — Chris Duvall, Rod Fanni, Jukka Raitala, Daniel Lovitz — Ken Krolicki, Samuel Piette, Saphir Taider — Alejandro Silva, Matteo Mancosu, Ignacio Piatti

Notes: Taïder’s brace last weekend makes him the fourth different Impact player since the start of last season with a multi-goal game in MLS play. Four different Montreal players accomplished the feat in 2016 alone. … Montreal have won five of their last six MLS games, including four straight. They have not won five consecutive games in league play since the end of 2015 into their first two games of 2016.

All-Time Series

Overall: New York City FC 4 wins, 13 goals … Montreal Impact 1 win, 8 goals … 2 draws
At New York City: NYCFC 1 win, 7 goals … Impact 1 win, 6 goals … 2 draws
Last meeting at New York City: New York City FC 1, Montreal Impact 1 (March 18, 2017)