MONTREAL IMPACT vs. MINNESOTA UNITED FC
Stade Saputo | Montreal, Quebec
09.16.17 | MLS Week #27 | MLS Game #28
6:30 p.m. CT (FOX 9+, MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN)

2017 Records:
MIN: 7-15-5; 1-9-2 on the road
MTL: 10-11-6; 8-5-1 at home

Minnesota United’s trans-Canada sojourn continues as the team travels from Vancouver to Montreal to face the Impact at Stade Saputo on Saturday, September 16. The match gets underway at 6:30 p.m. with the Impact — losers of three straight matches — looking to stay in the hunt for playoff position as they sit just below the red line in the Eastern Conference. Coverage begins on FOX 9+ and MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN at 6:00 p.m.

In its last two matches, MNUFC has conceded a goal in the first five minutes, a trend they will try to reverse as they welcome back key players like defender and captain Francisco Calvo, forward Christian Ramirez and defender Marc Burch. Calvo joined the team following the birth of his first son, while Ramirez and Burch both returned to the 18 from injury on Wednesday night against Vancouver, with Ramirez seeing 18 minutes off the bench. It was the first shift for the team’s leading scorer since he came up lame with a hamstring injury against D.C. United on July 29.

Although Burch’s injury was more serious — a sports hernia that required surgery and sidelined him since the June 3 match against Sporting KC — Ramirez’s injury has been tricky to deal with and the team has missed his steady production in front of goal. When he went down, he was a top five scorer in the league. Less than 20 minutes in a losing effort isn’t much time to make an impact, but for Head Coach Adrian Heath what was important about his return was something else.

“I think just the fact that he got on the field again and came through unscathed,” he said. “He felt okay. With a hamstring injury, you’re never quite sure until you get in the cut and thrust of it in competitive games. But he came through that okay and he feels good.”

This back-to-back against two Canadian teams is the first time the Loons have had to play two matches without coming back to Minnesota for training and recovery, a fact that hasn’t escaped Heath’s notice.

“I think it will be a difficult game because of the travel we’ve had and how important it is for them,” he said. “They’re right in the thick of the playoff hunt, virtually on the line, so we’re going to have to be at our best to get something from the game. But we’ve got a few players back and I expect us to perform better than we did in Vancouver.”

The Loons’ work in the midfield against Whitecaps FC was solid — they actually had almost 150 more passes than Vancouver with better passing accuracy. It was in the final third where the play broke down, with the visitors taking only half as many shots as the home side and only getting two on frame. Despite conceding three goals, the central tandem of defenders Michael Boxall and Brent Kallman put in work and goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth made several clutch saves. The team’s defense will have to stand tall for them to have a chance against a strong attacking side.

“They have one of the best DPs that’s been in the league in [Ignacio] Piatti,” said Heath. “He’s a threat without the ball, makes great movement off the ball. [Matteo] Mancosu: goal scorer in Europe. So, they’ve got good players — they’ve spent a lot of money putting this team together. We’re going to have to be at our best, but it’s another opportunity.”

Next up for the Loons is a home match against FC Dallas on Saturday, September 23. The teams kick off at TCF Bank Stadium at 7:00 p.m. and pre-match coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on FOX 9+ and MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN.

INJURY REPORT

Minnesota United
OUT:
M – Bernardo Anor (L Lower Leg)
M – Sam Cronin (Head)
M/D – Thomas de Villardi (L Achilles)
D – Jermaine Taylor (Head)

QUESTIONABLE:
D – Brent Kallman (R Hip) 

Montreal Impact
OUT:
D – Ambroise Oyongo (right knee surgery 6/13, out 6 months)

DISCIPLINARY REPORT
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FIRST TOUCHES

• Chris Duvall was Minnesota United’s s first selection in the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft. Duvall also played the 2012 season with Collin Martin at Wake Forest.
• Johan Venegas played for the Impact from 2015 to 2016 before coming to Minnesota as part of a trade for Duvall.
• Collen Warner was on Montreal’s roster during the 2012 and 2013 seasons and part of the 2014 campaign.
• Daniel Lovitz and Warner were both on Toronto FC in 2014 and 2015. Dominic Oduro played with the duo in 2014.
• Oduro played with Jermaine Taylor in 2011 on Houston Dynamo. He joined Ethan Finlay and Bernardo Anor on Columbus Crew SC for the 2013 season and part of the 2014 campaign.
• Shaun Francis played with both Finlay and Anor on Crew SC in 2012. Francis joined Christian Ramirez on Charlotte Eagles the following season. Then, in 2014, he teamed up with Sam Cronin on the San Jose Earthquakes.
• Blerim Dzemaili and Jerome Thiesson are both from Zurich, Switzerland.
• Montreal and Minnesota were league opponents when they were second-division teams, last meeting in the 2011 NASL season. Minnesota beat out Montreal for the final spot in the playoffs and went on to win the Soccer Bowl championship that year.
• The Impact and the Loons have taken the second and third fewest corner kicks in MLS with 104 and 117 respectively.
• Minnesota is among the most accurate squads in the league, with 38% of its shots ending up on target.
• The Impact concede an average of 14.1 fouls per match, the third highest in the league.
• Montreal is one of 10 teams that have converted all of their penalty-kick chances this year.
• Minnesota has yet to beat a Canadian team since joining MLS.
• The Impact were runners-up in this year’s Canadian Championship.
• The Impact were shut out at the attacking end for a second consecutive match in their 1-0 loss to New England Revolution and have gone 180 minutes since their last goal.
• Ethan Finlay’s scoring streak came to an end at three matches. He managed two shots against Vancouver, but neither were on target.
• Ibson led Minnesota with 62 completed passes in the opponent’s half on Wednesday night, 28 of which were in the final third.
• Bobby Shuttleworth made five saves against Vancouver, a five-match high for the Minnesota goalkeeper.
• On Wednesday, Johan Venegas made his first start for MNUFC since June 29. The Costa Rica international featured on three occasions as a substitute between those starts.
• Minnesota is undefeated in its past three meetings with Eastern Conference opponents, going 2-1-0 with seven goals for and two against.
• In just seven matches, Sam Nicholson has taken 21 corner kicks, five of which came on Wednesday night.
• Jerome Thiesson has featured in every MNUFC match since his first appearance on March 12.