New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis shook up his lineup, particularly in the midfield, for last week's match at Philadelphia.
The insertion of Tommy McNamara and Kwadwo Poku paid dividends as the duo teamed up for the Club's first goal in a 2-1 comeback victory over the Union on June 6. Kreis said both players deserved their debut starts with New York City FC and brought on a fresh perspective to the side.
"I think they both feel and both have felt they have contributed in some ways," Kreis said. "It wasn’t their first minutes of the season. Both of them deserved their opportunities. It’s a message to all the players, really, that if you continue to do things right in the training sessions, the coaches will give you the opportunities you deserve."
McNamara scored a 25-yard strike on an assist from Poku in the 53rd minute. The 24-year-old started and played a full 90 minutes in the victory. Poku started the match and played a season-high 58 minutes.
"Sometimes that’s what you need, somebody to come in with a fresh perspective, somebody who hasn’t had to bear some of the burden of the difficult results we’ve had for so long here," Kreis said of McNamara. "Hats off to him and glad he could do it for us."
Hitting Their Stride?
It took the Impact 23 games in the 2014 campaign to register their fourth win. Montreal come into tonight's match winners in four of their last five.
After starting the Major League Soccer season 0-3-2 with an emphasis on the CONCACAF Champions League -- in which they finished runners up -- the Impact may be hitting their stride. Montreal has allowed one goal in each of the four victories during this stretch and snapped a 25-road game drought in MLS with a 2-1 win at Columbus Crew SC on June 6.
DATE |
OPPONENT |
RESULT |
|---|---|---|
June 6 |
at Columbus |
2-1 W |
June 3 |
vs. Vancouver |
2-1 W |
May 30 |
at Chicago |
3-0 L |
May 23 |
vs. FC Dallas |
2-1 W |
May 16 |
vs. Real Salt Lake |
4-1 W |
International Duty
Both New York City FC and Montreal will be without players due to international call ups.
New York City FC is without forward Adam Nemec (Slovakia). The Impact will be missing midfielder Maxin Tissot (Canada) and defender Ambroise Oyongo (Cameroon).
Midfielder Mix Diskerud has returned to the Club after playing 70 minutes and scoring in the United States' 2-1 victory over defending World Cup Champions Germany on Wednesday in Cologne.
Road Woes
The Impact have struggled on the road this season. In fact, Montreal's troubles away from home extend further back than that. The Impact endured a 25-match winless streak on the road prior to a 2-1 win at Columbus on June 6.
Not surprisingly, the woes translate into poor statistics on the road. Montreal has just two goals away from Stade Saputo with a minus-6 goal differential, being outscored 8-2 in five MLS matches.
DATE |
OPPONENT |
RESULT |
|---|---|---|
June 6 |
at Columbus |
2-1 W |
May 30 |
at Chicago |
3-0 L |
April 11 |
at Houston |
3-0 L |
March 21 |
at New England |
0-0 D |
March 7 |
at D.C. United |
1-0 L |
Key Numbers
- New York City FC defender Jeb Brovsky made 65 appearances (61 starts) for Montreal from 2012-14. He scored the only two goals of his career while with the Impact during the 2013 campaign.
- New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis is one win away from No. 100 in his career. The former Real Salt Lake coach is 99-84-68 in 251 matches managed.
- Montreal defender Laurent Ciman leads all MLS players with 5.33 interceptions per game (minimum two games played).
- New York City FC has scored nine of their 12 goals in the second half (75%) -- the highest ratio in MLS this season.
- Montreal and New York City FC are the only teams in MLS to not score a headed goal yet this season.
