MLS Regular Season | Match #24
New England Revolution at CF Montréal
Saturday, August 26 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Stade Saputo | Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Watch: FREE on MLS Season Pass
English Talent: Ed Cohen (Play-by-Play), Greg Sutton (Analyst)
Spanish Talent: Juan Arango (Play-by-Play), Carlos Suarez (Analyst)
French Talent: Frederic Lord (Play-by-Play), Vincent Destouches (Analyst)
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English); 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
Radio Talent: Brad Feldman (Play-by-Play), Charlie Davies (Analyst)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
2nd in Eastern Conference (12-4-7, 43 pts.)
Last Result (Leagues Cup) | 1-1 draw vs. Querétaro FC (4-3 loss on penalties)
Last Result (MLS) | 4-0 win vs. D.C. United
New England return to action for the first time in almost three weeks, with last weekend’s regular season fixture against Nashville SC postponed due to the Tennessee side’s involvement in the Leagues Cup final. The Revolution will look to pick up where they left off in MLS, having claimed 2-1 and 4-0 home triumphs against Atlanta United and D.C. United to cement second spot in the Eastern Conference standings, before the season broke for Leagues Cup action. After progressing in the tournament from the East 4 group as runners-up, the Revs defeated Atlas FC on penalties to set up a last 16 clash against Querétaro FC. Homegrown Player Esmir Bajraktarevic’s first senior goal salvaged a late draw against Los Gallos Blancos at Gillette Stadium before the Liga MX outfit edged the penalty shootout, 4-3, to clinch a quarterfinal place. With five wins in their last seven league games, New England will hope to continue their impressive form to mount a strong end to the campaign in search of silverware.
CF Montréal
8th in Eastern Conference (10-12-2, 32 pts.)
Last Result (MLS) | 3-2 win at Toronto FC
Montréal head into Saturday’s game having lifted themselves above the playoff line in the East with victory in a five-goal thriller at Toronto FC. A Mathieu Choinière brace and Aimé Mabika own goal clinched the points in the all-Canadian affair – Le CFM’s first game since July 26. The triumph was just their second win (in regulation time) in their last eight games. A 2-0 victory over Charlotte FC had signed off their MLS regular season campaign before Leagues Cup competition kicked off. Despite a penalty shootout win over Pumas UNAM to claim a bonus point, the Canadian outfit were unable to qualify from East 2 to the knockout stages of the tournament after falling to a 1-0 defeat to D.C. United. Tallying 10-12-2 in their 24 league games, it has been a mixed campaign for Montréal – but Hernán Losada’s side do hold a solid home record of 8-3-0 in 2023, and will hope to take advantage of home comforts as they look to kickstart their season.
HEAD-TO-HEAD HISTORY
There have been 31 meetings between the two sides with New England shading a brighter return with 16 victories and three draws. The most recent encounter saw the Revolution run out 4-0 victors, thanks to goals from four different goal scorers (Dylan Borrero, Carles Gil, Bobby Wood and Giacomo Vrioni) at Gillette Stadium in April. Montréal had claimed both 2022 meetings, including the Revs’ last visit to Stade Saputo, but New England have triumphed six times away from home in the series, emerging victorious from two of the last three trips.
Overall Record vs. Montréal: 16-12-3
Away Record vs. Montréal: 6-7-2
Last meeting at Gillette Stadium: Revs 4, Montréal 0 (April 8, 2023)
Last meeting at Stade Saputo: Montréal 4, Revs 0 (August 20, 2022)
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution midfielder Matt Polster
Featuring in all but one regular season game in 2023, Polster has been a key component in the Revs’ impressive campaign. With only Dave Romney and Djordje Petrović clocking more minutes this term, the midfielder is considered one of the first names on the teamsheet as one of the most consistent performers, and an invaluable asset both on and off the pitch. The 30-year-old’s fourth season in Foxborough has yielded impressive figures, tallying the club’s second-highest number of successful passes this year (990) with a notable accuracy of 87.5 percent, plus the most duels (195) and interceptions (34). He also ranks sixth for possessions won among MLS midfielders (169) this year, and since joining the club in July 2020, stands in the top four for interceptions (a league best 144), clearances (119) and blocks (37). The link between defense and attack, he has also contributed at the sharp end of the pitch – on the scoresheet against Atlanta United and Inter Miami CF, and having notched an assist last time out. As the Revs look to close the gap atop the East, Polster’s experience, battling qualities and leadership will be crucial.
CF Montréal midfielder Mathieu Choinière
With three goals in his last three games, Choinière has found his scoring touch to climb top of Montréal’s 2023 charts, tallying seven goal involvements (four goals and three assists) in 19 games this term. A brace against Toronto on Sunday saw the 24-year-old overtake forwards Chinonso Offor and the injured Romell Quioto as the club’s top contributor for the year so far. Despite operating as a makeshift left wing-back at BMO Field, the Canadian played a starring role, converting the rebound after Jules-Anthony Vilsaint’s low drive was tipped onto the post, and coolly stepping up to convert a penalty by sending Tomas Romero the wrong way to restore his side’s two-goal cushion late on. An impressive first half of the season, which saw Choinière craft four goal involvements in four games through April and May in his sixth campaign with the club, saw the midfielder selected to the MLS All-Star Team. His double in Toronto also earned him a place in this week’s MLS Team of the Matchday.
STATUS REPORT
New England Revolution
New recruit Tomás Chancalay is pushing to make his Revs debut, having signed on loan from Racing Club in July, and Tommy McNamara could also clock his first minutes of 2023, after featuring for Revs II in his comeback from injury. Gustavo Bou has been ruled out for up to four weeks, while captain Carles Gil and forward Bobby Wood are hoping to return after knocks. Elsewhere, Christian Makoun is back in training, but defender Brandon Bye has unfortunately been ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering an ACL injury. Andrew Farrell and Djordje Petrović are listed as questionable, and Dylan Borrero (ACL), Henry Kessler (hamstring) and Maciel (Achilles) remain unavailable.
CF Montréal
Forward Romell Quioto has not featured since May having suffered a hamstring injury, and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint is a slight doubt, having been substituted through injury in Toronto after marking his first start with two key goal contributions. The forward has trained with Le CFM this week with a bandage on his leg. Ariel Lassiter, who has registered one goal and two assists in 16 appearances (13 starts) since arriving via trade from Inter Miami CF in April, is listed as day-to-day.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Revolution assistant coach Richie Williams on resuming MLS play:
“We did have a couple weeks of break. It’s going to be good to get back into the MLS league schedule. We’re going to go up to Montréal, who is a very good team, and it’s not going to be an easy game, but we have to be prepared and ready to go. We’ve had some good training, we’ve had some downtime also for the players to recuperate, so we’re ready to go. We have a nice week to prepare and get ready for Montréal for Saturday’s game.
“We’re in a good position, sitting second place in the East. We do have three games in a week next week so we’re going to have to rely on our depth with a couple of guys being injured. It’s never easy, it’s always difficult. This league is a tough league. Every game is competitive and it’s especially hard when you go on the road. We just have to be ready, we have to prepare, and we have to take from our experiences all year of playing well, and continue to play well to get better. Going into the final third of the season, it’s going to get that much more competitive because teams are trying to get into the playoffs. We have to get ready.”
On CF Montréal:
“They played against Toronto the other night, so they’ve played one game and we’ve been off for a little bit, so you hope that we’d be fresh from the time off that we’ve had off. We want to go up and be competitive, play well and get a result.
“I think they’re an improved team. They’ve changed up their lineup a little bit in terms of personnel, they like to play. We’re on the road and going to Montréal is never easy, so it’s going to a difficult game, and they’re a good team. They play with two forwards and a 10, they're very aggressive getting forward, so they do pose problems up front. They have a bit of a younger team, they seem to have a lot more energy. They’re playing well on both sides of the ball, they're playing as a team. When you put that all together, that's going to result in wins and a team that's playing well. They have the ability to score goals, and they've been solid defensively, so it won't be an easy game.”
On the impact of Montréal head coach Hernán Losada:
“From what I remember early on in the season, it wasn’t going as well as I’m sure he planned. Obviously, he made changes personnel-wise, and changed some things up, and they’ve been playing much better. Credit to him. He does have some experience in the league – he was at D.C. United, so he knows what the league is about – and he’s got the team playing very well, so you do have to give some credit to the coach.”
Revolution midfielder Matt Polster on the team’s mentality and resilience:
“The boys are excited for the game against Montréal. Obviously, we’ve been away for a while, so the important thing is to start on the right foot. It's just about bringing energy, bringing that togetherness and trying to find a way to get three points. It's difficult losing important pieces at this time of the season [through injury], but this is a team that's resilient, and we'll find a way to win without them. That's what we'll have to do.
“We've been here before. Even though we're in second place, the table is tight – a few results go one way or the other, you can drop down pretty quickly – so it's all about bringing that mindset that each game is extremely important. We're a team that wants to win every game – that's the mindset we have, and we're going to go to Montréal and try and achieve that. Nothing really changes for us as a group. We have the team to go away from home and win games.”
On the keys to striking first rather than needing to fight back in games:
“We've talked about that quite a bit. It would be nice not to have to always fight back and claw our way back into games. I think the main thing is coming out with the right mindset where we don't need to go win the game in the first 10-15 minutes – we can take on a little bit of pressure, keep our shape in better moments, and then pick and choose our chances to get forward. Then, keeping the ball and being super creative, and having a lot of movement off the ball – we lacked that in our last competitive game. If we can be more creative on the ball, running off the ball for players, being more willing to make those runs and have sacrifices from guys around each other, we'll be able to win this game against Montréal.”
Revolution defender Dave Romney on being back in action after a break:
“It’s exciting. You kind of get bored after a while just scrimmaging ourselves. It’ll be fun to start playing other teams again and kind of get back in the flow of a regular season schedule. It’s going to be tough. They [Montréal] had a tough start to the season, and they’ve really turned things around. They played well last game in Toronto. We’re just expecting a side that’s going to play well, and they’re always tough to play in Montréal, so [we’re expecting] a real hard fight.”
