Philadelphia Union is headed North of the border to take on C.F. Montreal at Stade Saputo on Saturday night – tune in on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV to watch the action.
After a disappointing trio of results following the international break, Head Coach Jim Curtin’s squad is determined to make the most of their trip to Canada. The team currently sits at 11th in the East with 20 points, separated from the teams above and below them by just one point. Depending on results across the league, a three point swing could push them back into playoff contention, as Atlanta United is the last team above the line at ninth with just 21 points.
As for Head Coach Laurent Courtois’s side, they’re just one place from the bottom above only Chicago Fire, who Philadelphia is scheduled to face next Wednesday on the road. Similarly to Philadelphia, Montreal have won four matches this season, so Saturday’s meeting is shaping up to be another intense matchup between two teams in need of a positive result.
The pair’s first meeting this season came at the start of the month, and it was a hard fought one from both sides. Sunusi Ibrahim opened the scoring in the very first minute, shifting momentum to Montreal’s favor early on. The match was looking up for the Philly side by the end of the first half however, as Costa Rican winger Ariel Lassiter was shown a red card right before the teams went to their respective locker rooms, and when they emerged Daniel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre made the most of their advantage, scoring goals within two minutes of each other to claim the lead. Unfavorably for the Union, a second red card was dealt to Jack Elliott, and the 10v10 battle ultimately resulted in a draw by way of a Samuel Piette equalizer.
Having played them so recently, Philadelphia knows their opponent well, and after dilligent prep on the pitch and in meetings, the group is eager to fight for all three points on the road.
"We've had a good week of training, a lot of work has been put in. Now it needs to come out on the field against a Montreal team that is very good with the ball, very dangerous at home, and has scored a bunch of goals," Curtin said. "We have to be on our a game to limit them. But again, it's been a week to get better and look forward, not backwards."
Philadelphia will line up differently this time around, as Head Coach Jim Curtin is still without quite a few players due to injury and international tournaments. Midfielder José Martinez and center back Damion Lowe are away at Copa America, but during his Thursday afternoon press conference, Curtin announced that the club’s all-time leading goalscorer Daniel Gazdag started making his way back to the states after Hungary was officially eliminated from 2024 UEFA Euros. While he and the team's staff have yet to determine if he’ll travel, Curtin confirmed that should Gazdag make the trip, he’ll be a contributor in some capacity.
On the Montreal side, Ibrahim, the 21-year-old Nigerian forward who opened scoring at Subaru Park in the June 1st matchup, is a player to watch as he leads his team with six goals in 707 minutes played. He’s scored twice in the team’s last four matches– the first of which coming in the June clash on the riverfront.
Alot can change in a month, and after a week of diligent prep and productive discussion, Philadelphia Union is eager to fight for all three points on the road on Saturday.
