Coming off a convincing win over the New York Red Bulls on July 4, Columbus Crew SC (6-6-6) gets back in the saddle and heads to Montreal (5-7-3) for its next match on Saturday, July 11.
The Black & Gold are getting into a good rhythm having beaten New York 2-1 last weekend and climbing the standings to second in the Eastern Conference with 24 points. Midfielder Ethan Finlay notched his second brace of the season to lead Columbus past the Red Bulls in a come-from-behind victory.
While Montreal sits in ninth in the East, it's certainly not a team to look past as they one-upped Crew SC 2-1 at MAPFRE Stadium on June 6.
“This is a team that has a lot of games at hand on a lot of teams in the East right now, and that makes them very dangerous,” Finlay said. “It’d be a real big three points for us this weekend. Obviously, being in second right now, we can hopefully start to pull away from the pack.”
Columbus has started to gain some ground going undefeated in its four matches since last meeting the Impact. Goalkeeper Steve Clark recognizes the improvement.
“I think that we’re getting better and better as a team,” Clark said. “Now, it’s just about putting in good performances week in [and] week out for us.”
Finlay says the key to this feat is not only to continue scoring, but also to focus for the entirety of the match and not concede an early goal.
“It’s just focus for 90 minutes, not having a let-down early. Unfortunately, that’s what we’ve been doing early in the games. We’ve been giving one up and I think it’s that focus coming in, and knowing what our task at hand is,” Finlay observed. “It’s difficult to win games when you give up a goal on the road, and fortunately for us, we’ve actually been scoring some goals. But, we need to tighten it up back there and those guys are experienced guys, and I think they’re working to figure it out.”
Montreal is also a tough team to defend due to its strong counter-attacking abilities.
“They’re tough to break down,” Clark said. “They like to sit down a bit and counter. So, we’re going to have to play a game with good balance, and offensively break them down.”
Head Coach and Sporting Director Gregg Berhalter says, because the Impact are “very organized, they have a good block in front of the 18, and they’re difficult to break down,” his team’s speed of play will likely play a big factor in its success.
“What I think has to happen, is everything needs to be quicker,” Berhalter said. “We can play slow, but when we’re ready for the action, it has to be at high speed. Otherwise, you have no chance. It’s waiting for the moment, and when that moment comes; it’s done at absolute maximum speed.”
Crew SC will have the chance to seize this opportunity on Saturday night against a tough and talented team. The Impact will be hungry for a win as they’ve gone 1-3-1 in their last five matches; but, they’ve scored 14 goals at home this year and hold a +5 goal differential at Saputo Stadium.
“I think as we look towards the second half of the season, that’s a team that’s going to be climbing the table. I really believe that they have the quality to start moving up, so we know it’s going to be a tough game,” Berhalter said. “Frank [Klopas, MTL Head Coach] gets those guys well organized and they’re going to be difficult to break down. They’re going to be deadly on the counter and they have quality. So, in my eyes, it’s a very difficult game.”
The second meeting between the two clubs this season is set to kickoff on Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. ET. Tune in for the action on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, CD 102.5 FM or La Mega 103.1 FM.
