The Philadelphia Union travel to Montreal to take on L’Impact de Montreal Saturday night at 7 PM EST. The last time these two teams met the Union pulled out a draw in Montreal. Didier Drogba struck first, then a 24th minute goal by CJ Sapong leveled the score, which remained even for the rest of the game. At that point of the season Montreal was in first place, currently they sit in 4th place with two games in hand on leaders NYCFC. Meanwhile the Union are in second place with a game in hand on NYCFC, 3 points from the leaders.
The Impact have drawn 5 of their last 7 games, pulling 1 win and 1 loss in that time. The loss against NYCFC last week set Montreal back, but this game will give the Canadians another chance to close the gap on the top 3 in the East. The front 3 of Didier Drogba, Dominic Oduro, and Ignacio Piatti for Montreal have been stellar this year and will need to be on top form to best the Union. These impact players for Montreal have amounted 20 goals together, and created over 8 assists. Piatti has been the biggest threat for Montreal so far, with 11 goals to his name. Last time he struck the woodwork against the Union on more than 1 occasion. Should he find his scoring touch Saturday, the Union might find it difficult to stop the Argentinian.
The Union, meanwhile, are coming off of a loss on penalties to New England in the Quarterfinals of the US Open Cups. Philadelphia were down 1-0 for most of the match, but pulled out a 90th minute equalizer through Fabian Herbers. Unfortunately the late goal wasn’t enough as New England ended up victorious.
The Union have struggled on the road so far this season, with a 1-5-3 record. For the Union to make a push past NYCFC they will have to find out how to get results on the road. At home the Union have shown league leader qualities, but once they leave the sanctuary of Chester, PA, they seem to make little mistakes here and there, and can’t seem to find the magic to score as frequently as when they are in front of the home crowd.
We will have to wait and see the starting line-up Jim Curtin elects to play. Since some players such as CJ Sapong are coming off of 2 hours of play time on Wednesday, he might have to rotate in some positions. Montreal on the other hand will have 6 days of rest ahead of the match-up Saturday night. The Canadians will have the advantage when it comes to fitness, but are facing off against a Union team with plenty of depth, and a team that can rotate at just about any position and still put out a formidable challenge.
Montreal should be favored to come out with a result tonight, but don’t sleep on the Union. A series of strong second halves have shown one can never count Philadelphia out until its all done and dusted.
