Red-hot Impact to test mettle of surging Real Salt Lake (Aug 19, 2017)

By AP
Published

Fighting for a playoff spot didn't seem realistic for either the Montreal Impact or Real Salt Lake just a few weeks ago.

Both clubs, however, find themselves facing a much different scenario midway through August.

Montreal and visiting Real Salt Lake each enter their Saturday night match with a chance to shake up the MLS playoff picture.

The Impact (9-8-6) sit just two points behind Atlanta and Columbus for one of the final two spots in the Eastern Conference. Real Salt Lake (8-12-5) is just three points behind San Jose for the last Western Conference playoff spot.

Each team has grown hot at the right time. Montreal owns a three-game winning streak after defeating Chicago 3-0 on Wednesday. Real Salt Lake is unbeaten in its last six matches following a 1-0 win over D.C. United on Sunday.

Ignacio Piatti and Blerim Dzemaili have been the driving force in the Impact's resurgence. Piatti has 12 goals and four assists in 18 matches, highlighted by a brace against the Fire. Dzemaili has totaled six goals and six assists.

"When I came here we were last and the team knows now that we can do a lot," Dzemaili told MLSSoccer.com following Saturday's match against Chicago. "The last three games showed that we can compete against everybody and that we can do well against everybody."

Confidence is just as strong for Real Salt Lake, which has won three straight road matches and outscored its opponents 11-3 in those matches. A win over Montreal would give Real Salt Lake its first ever road win over the Impact and also give it a fourth straight road victory for the first time in club history.

The most recent road win may have been the most impressive one as well. A Saturday night rainstorm forced Real Salt Lake and D.C. United to postpone the final 60 minutes of their match until Sunday.

Real Salt Lake finally broke through with the game winner from Luis Silva in the 64th minute to get their first and only win at RFK Stadium.

"The fight was always there," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "The field wasn't the greatest, so we knew it wasn't going to be pretty. We knew we had an opportunity with a couple teams losing in front of us, so we wanted to take full advantage."

The all-time series between Montreal and Real Salt Lake is deadlocked at 2-2-1. Neither club has won a road match in the series thus far.