Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Sporting Kansas City will look to continue its
fine run of form on Saturday when it heads to the Stade Saputo to face the
Montreal Impact.
Kansas City brings the league's best road record to the Stade Saputo after
picking up another away win in an impressive 2-0 result at Red Bull New York
on Wednesday.
Sporting head coach Peter Vermes shed some light on what he feels makes his
side such a dangerous team away from home.
"I think what happens a lot of times is, I don't think its much of a secret,
when we play at home everybody just sticks everything behind the ball and they
do play for 90 minutes with basically trying to counter us," said Vermes.
"It's not a lot of space to play in; it's just what it is.
"What happens when we come to other people's places is they have to play
because it's their place and they have to drive the game a little bit so they
can't sit back. They have to open themselves up, and when they do we find
opportunities and I think that's one of the biggest reasons why."
Sporting is unbeaten in its last seven league games, posting a 5-0-2 record
over that span to enter the weekend four points clear of the second-place
Chicago Fire.
Montreal, meanwhile, was at one point one of the most in-form teams in Major
League Soccer. From July 28 to August 25, the Impact recorded five straight
wins to get back in the playoff hunt, but two successive losses since have
brought the expansion club back to reality.
While Jesse Marsch's men have just four games left and look to be a long
shot to make the postseason, they are not throwing in the towel just yet.
"At the end of the day, there still are 12 points on the board for us," team
captain Davy Arnaud told the club's official website. "We can go out and get
those points, which we've done before. We've rolled out five games in a row
this year already. I don't see any reason why this team is not capable of
going on and winning the last four games. It's all we can do."
Montreal has amassed 39 points through its first 30 games in MLS, sitting six
points shy of the Columbus Crew for the final postseason berth.
The Sports Network