The last time the New England Revolution and CF Montreal met, the Revolution walked off the pitch with a decisive victory.
Three and a half weeks later, the two teams face off for a second time Wednesday in Foxborough, Mass., under vastly different circumstances as the MLS regular season nears its end.
Since a 5-0 win in Montreal on Aug. 24, the Revs (8-16-3, 27 points) have seen their playoff hopes take a massive blow. They have claimed just one out of a possible nine points in their past three matches (0-2-1) and sit dead last in the Eastern Conference standings after a 3-0 loss at Orlando City SC on Saturday.
“We just have to move forward … and work hard because we have another game and it’s not over yet,” Revs midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye said, according to The Blazing Musket. “We need to really push for three points at home against Montreal.”
New England was without Caleb Porter for the Orlando loss, but the Revs’ head coach will be back on the sidelines on Wednesday. Porter was fined and handed a one-match suspension for criticizing officials following a 2-2 draw against St. Louis City SC on Sept. 7.
Montreal (7-12-9, 30 points) boosted its playoff chances with a 2-1 home win over Charlotte FC on Saturday, snapping a three-match losing streak to move within three points of the ninth and final playoff spot in the East. Still, it will have to overtake three teams to get there.
“We have in mind from the coaches and within the group that these next six games are a big push and especially because we play a lot of the teams from the East, so we’re very locked in and we know what we want to do,” Montreal forward Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty said.
Montreal’s last outing featured goals from Bryce Duke and Caden Clark, with Clark scoring for the first time since an Aug. 8 trade from Minnesota United. Raheem Edwards added an assist, his fifth.
Bobby Wood scored two of the Revs’ five goals in the Aug. 24 meeting.
–Field Level Media
