Montreal Impact eye home playoff date in regular season finale
Montreal can finish as high as third place in conference with win over Toronto
Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush says he always believed Montreal was a top three team and today a win in the final game of the MLS season will prove him right.
A potential third-place finish is remarkable considering it took until May — the third month of the MLS season —before Montreal won its first game.
"Obviously we started a little slow, the first five games, and we said all along that that was due to the Champions League stuff and the travel," Bush said after practice earlier this week.
Montreal is in a good position thanks to two dramatic changes which took place near the end of August. Head coach Frank Klopas was replaced by Mauro Biello and Didier Drogba arrived.
Drogba was a huge factor in Montreal's turn around, scoring nine goals since he started his first game on Sept. 5. Since Drogba's debut the Impact have posted a record of five wins, two draws and only two losses.
Home playoff game at stake
Montreal has already qualified for the playoffs, but a finish between third and sixth place only guarantees them one game — and for the teams finishing in fifth and sixth place that game will be played on the road.
No team in the MLS has a winning record away from home this season.
"You see in this league how difficult it is to win on the road," said Impact interim head coach Mauro Biello.
"To have that possibility to have that first playoff game at home is big for us."
The Impact posted a 4-9-4 record away from Saputo Stadium, compared to a 10-4-2 while playing at home.
If the Impact win today over Toronto it will mean the franchise will host its first MLS playoff game.
The only other appearance in the MLS post season for Montreal was a 3-0 loss on the road in Houston in 2013.
TFC and Impact rivalry
The Montreal versus Toronto game to end the MLS season is a bit of a tradition but today is the first time both teams have something real to play for.
Toronto needs a result to earn its own first-ever home playoff date.
This year TFC qualified for the post season for the first time in its franchise history and coming into today's game hold a one-point edge over the Impact in the standings.
A draw will be good enough to ensure them a game at home, while a loss could mean a return trip to Montreal for the playoffs next week.
The Montreal Impact and Toronto FC are two clubs that don't like each other and with so much at stake, it will be no exception. Kick off is at 5 p.m. today.