When the Seattle Sounders FC take to the pitch Saturday Night ( 4 p.m. PT ) at Stade Olympique Stadium in Montreal against the Impact, the ability to control the middle of the pitch , that is win the battle of the middle field will go a long way in determining if the visitors can come away with a favorable result.
With both teams coming off road losses, the Sounders lost 2-1 at Houston and the Impact 1-0 at San Jose, a favorable result is of prime importance on Saturday. One could say Montreal is under a little more pressure to secure all three points since they will be at home and play in front of 35,000 fans.
The pressure on the home team means the visiting Sounders will need to be sharp and ready to go when the opening whistle starts and not allow a quick goal that will have the team chasing the game. The Sounders are hoping to remember the lesson learned in Houston. The Sounders were down 2-0 at halftime, made a gallant effort to secure a point but fell short with one score goal when two was needed.
MIDFIELD BATTLE
The Impact has a prolific offense made up of international players of Italian forward Matteo Mancosu, Argentinian midfielder Ignacio Piatti who played Argentina San Lorenzo, and Ghanaian forward Dominic Oduro. Piatti is the puppet master in the Impact attack and is similar to Seattle Nicolas Lodeiro in that he his a quick elusive player who can advance the ball up the pitch with his dribbling ability as well as run onto to space to catch up to a pass from a teammate who played the ball into the open space. Both players are like NFL receivers who have to break away speed that enables them to separate from opponents.
Piatti is the puppet master in the Impact attack and is similar to Seattle Nicolas Lodeiro in that he his a quick elusive player who can advance the ball up the pitch with his dribbling ability as well as run onto to space to catch up to a pass from a teammate who played the ball into the open space. Both players are like NFL receivers who have to break away speed that enables them to separate from opponents.
“Lodeiro is a great player,” Piatti was quoted on the Impacts Media site after the team’s practice on Friday. “He likes to play with the ball and provide assists. In training, we’ve worked on marking him tightly so that he does not make the difference. It’ll be very important for us to do that tomorrow.”
Seattle will have Osvaldo Alonso play his normal disruptor defensive midfield role by tightly marking Piatti in hopes of limiting the craft midfielders touches and time with the ball. Seattle’s other midfielder Cristina Roldan will play alongside Alonso and try to create room for Lodeiro with his speed as he runs from goal box to goal box.
GAME NOTES
- Former Impact midfield Harry Shipp will make his first return to Montreal after signing with the Sounders during the offseason.
- Seattle holds a record of 2-3-0 all-time against Montreal, including a 1-0-0 mark at Olympic Stadium.
Leave a Reply