The New York Red Bulls look to build upon their first CONCACAF Champions League win against CD FAS last month as they face group leaders and MLS compatriot Montreal Impact on September 17.
Wednesday’s match at Stade Saputo will kick off at 8:00 p.m. (TV: FOX Sports 2, Univision Deportes).
CONCACAF Champions League Group 3 Standings
Tomorrow’s game marks the third meeting featuring these two teams, and the first time they’ve met in Champions League play. In their most previous clash on August 23, the Red Bulls won 4-2 at Red Bull Arena. Their first game, played out to a 2-2 draw at Stade Saputo.
The Impact enter the game winless in their first two games of September (0-1-1), but have gotten off to a strong start in Champions League, winning both home and away against CD FAS.
Petke on Impact
“It’s very obvious they’re putting everything into this competition,” head coach Mike Petke said. “We’re taking it [Champions League] very seriously, but we are in fourth place in the league and we have six games left and we have a huge game against Seattle coming off three straight games, so we have some guys that we need to rest.”
Due to injuries and the need to rest players, the big news for the Red Bulls is the re-call of Connor Lade from loan.
“Obviously the injuries we have right now – Bradley Wright [-Phillips], [Tim] Cahill’s hurting, Thierry’s [Henry] hurting – all the other guys are hampered with tiredness. It was almost a necessity to call him back and he will play tomorrow.”
Connor Lade has been on-loan with the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League. He has made four appearances during his loan, totaling 263 minutes of playing time.
“We’re hoping that we can get him back to the Cosmos because we value that and he’s done so well there and it’s helping him so much with his development, and he’s getting the games there so we’re hoping that we get him right back there.”
The match will mark the third game in eight days for the Red Bulls, who are expected to rest most of their regular starters.
Players to watch: Forward Marco Di Vaio and Midfielder Dilly Duka
For Montreal’s star striker Marco Di Vaio, goals haven’t been as easy to come by this year. However, he scored in their last match against LA Galaxy and has the ability to score in bunches when he gets hot. He is the joint top-scorer for the Impact this year with six goals, but look for him to step up in an important home match for Montreal.
New Jersey native Dilly Duka assisted on both of Montreal’s two goals last week against LA Galaxy. In the last meeting at Red Bull Arena, he scored the Impact’s opening goal in their 4-2 loss to RBNY. The Red Bull back-line will need to keep a watchful eye on the creative midfielder, who will look to strike again on Wednesday.
