The Montreal Impact will host expansion team Orlando City SC and its star player Kaka for a second time in 2015 on Saturday, at 8pm EDT, but on this occasion, the game will be played at the friendly confines of Stade Saputo, looking to build on a three-game home winning streak.
To celebrate the end of the school year, the Impact is offering a number of promotions, including $12 tickets for kids under 16 anywhere in the stadium, a huge pregame party on the synthetic field starting at 5pm and $2 hot-dogs pregame. For tickets: http://bit.ly/1QpNHcQ
In their previous meeting, Impact played OCSC to a 2-2 draw at Olympic Stadium in the team’s home opener, when the home side came out to a 2-0 lead and controlled much of the game, save for a couple of minutes in which the Lions found two quick goals.
“There are always going to moments in a game where we won’t have the ball, and maybe we will suffer a little,” explained assistant coach Mauro Biello. “What we learned from that game [versus OCSC] was that while we may be suffering, we need to hold strong during those moments.”
Orlando City SC is having a great start to its expansion season, currently in third place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 5-5-5. Much of its success comes at the hands of international star Kaka, who has seven goals and two assists in 15 games played, all starts, while Canadian rookie Cyle Larin has scored five times.
“Kaka is one of those guys who can pull off great plays at any given time,” explained defender Bakary Soumare. “He’s like Robbie Keane, David Villa or [previously] Thierry Henry, so you have to be very concentrated and aware of where he is at all times.”
“Their attacking half is very solid, but at the end of the day, I’m not here to praise them,” added Dominic Oduro, who has returned to full training and is available for the game. “I respect them, but we have a pretty good team and need to focus on the things that we need to do. We have to exploit their weaknesses.”
In his next game, midfielder Patrice Bernier will join Felipe in first place in club history with 93 career games in MLS with the Impact.
Midfielder Marco Donadel will be available once again, after serving a one-game suspension due to yellow card accumulation, while Ambroise Oyongo and Maxim Tissot are also available after returning this week from national team duty.
The Impact will play its next two games on the road, starting with a midweek contest versus Toronto FC at BMO Field on Wednesday night, June 24, at 8pm (RDS, TSN, TSN Radio 690, 98.5FM), followed by a matchup with the Union in Philadelphia on Saturday, June 27, at 7pm (TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690, 98.5FM).
